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 News from Around the Americas | November 2005 
GOP Mulls End of Birthright Citizenship
 UPI
| | The US Capitol building in Washington, DC. The US Senate adopted a five-year program of spending cuts worth some 35 billion dollars, as the gaping US budget deficit fuels growing criticism among politicians. (AFP/Brendan Smialowski) |
Washington - House Republicans tackling illegal immigration were reported looking closely at ending birthright citizenship.
They also were discussing building a barrier along the entire U.S.-Mexican border, The Washington Times said.
Those two ideas have floated to the top of the list of possibilities to be included either in an immigration-enforcement bill later this year or in a later comprehensive immigration overhaul.
"There is a general agreement about the fact that citizenship in this country should not be bestowed on people who are the children of folks who come into this country illegally," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
Birthright citizenship, or what critics call "anchor babies," means that any child born on U.S. soil is granted citizenship, with exceptions for foreign diplomats.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., was quoted as supporting a barrier system of fences in some places and electronic surveillance or vehicle barriers in others.
Bill Would Increase Green Cards
UPI
Washington - The U.S. Senate version of a budget bill, if approved, would sharply increase the number of green cards for legal immigrants.
It would "recapture" 90,000 unused employment-based immigration visas and exempt family members from counting toward the cap of 140,000 a year, reports The Washington Times.
The Times said exempting family members would mean an additional 150,000 permanent legal immigrants annually. About 1 million people become legal immigrants each year.
The change is contained in the deficit-reducing budget reconciliation bill, which also includes billions of dollars in cuts in Medicaid and other social spending.
"We should never be doing immigration policy inside this kind of bill," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., vowing to vote against the measure if reaches the House.
The Chamber of Commerce said many of these workers are in the country and that the Senate bill just streamlines their pursuit of green cards.
An analyst at the Migration Policy Institute said the changes make sense because the current system doesn't accommodate the need for high-skilled workers. |
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