Nutters, Dangerous Ones
It appears that the California Contingent of Racist Xenophobes (CCRX), buoyed by the victory of Prop 8 homophobes, has decided to try once again to curtail the pernicious and tax-dollar-sucking behavior of illegal aliens, especially those from Mexico, who engage in what they call "birth tourism."
From the Sacramento Bee:
A conservative group is hoping to bring the issue of illegal immigration back to the front burner of California politics with a ballot measure that would create a new caste of birth certificates for children of the undocumented. ...
For undocumented parents to obtain the new "Certificate of Live Birth with Foreign Parent," they would have to be photographed, fingerprinted and pay an additional $75 fee.
Beyond the birth certificates, the measure also would limit welfare payments for the children of undocumented immigrants, as well as require that any application for public benefits submitted by illegal immigrants be handed over to federal authorities.
The proposition, which is designed for inclusion in the June, 2010 election, is currently being fine tuned (some amendments to the original language need to be submitted to the state), but its supporters expect the signature gatherers for the petitions to hit the street shortly. Why such a long lead time? Well, like the rest of the country, California is suffering under the current economic downturn. Unemployment in the state overall is at 10.5%, but in some counties is at 15% and above. Mexican job stealers and welfare recipients make an easy target. By the end of the year, voters might not be in such a state of panic, which is the state of mind the CCRX is counting on.
And who is behind this latest bit of xenophobia? The Bee article didn't provide a link, but did provide enough information to find the web site of the primary group: Taxpayer Revolution. Here's their summation of the proposition:
The Initiative’s Laws Will:
REQUIRE issuance of the official "CALIFORNIA BIRTH CERTIFICATE” for births to ONLY citizens and legal permanent residents. Birth to Foreign Parent document issued to all others.
STOP 18 years of WELFARE payments to illegal aliens for their U.S. born children.
ALLOW only CITIZENS AND PERMANENT LEGAL RESIDENTS eligibility for all public benefits including non-emergency and pre-natal care.
ALLOWS Homeland Security to review approved applications for federal benefits that illegal aliens are permitted to receive due to a U.S. born child.
Sweet, eh?
What is so amazing about this move is that the last time an earlier iteration of CCRX succeeded in pushing such an odious proposition through (Proposition 187), the courts gutted the proposition as unconstitutional. It doesn't look like the current attempt will fare much better, given the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. That doesn't appear to bother the current crop, however.
If you nose around this web site you'll find some of the other endorsers of the proposition ("Patriots" all), which includes Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R.-Huntington Beach), a gentleman who apparently doesn't take his oath to protect and defend the US Constitution too seriously.
Unfortunately, the proposition will probably qualify by the end of the summer for inclusion on the June 2010 ballot. What remains to be seen is whether the people of California will once again buy into this peculiar brand of rabid racism.
God, I hope not.
From the Sacramento Bee:
A conservative group is hoping to bring the issue of illegal immigration back to the front burner of California politics with a ballot measure that would create a new caste of birth certificates for children of the undocumented. ...
For undocumented parents to obtain the new "Certificate of Live Birth with Foreign Parent," they would have to be photographed, fingerprinted and pay an additional $75 fee.
Beyond the birth certificates, the measure also would limit welfare payments for the children of undocumented immigrants, as well as require that any application for public benefits submitted by illegal immigrants be handed over to federal authorities.
The proposition, which is designed for inclusion in the June, 2010 election, is currently being fine tuned (some amendments to the original language need to be submitted to the state), but its supporters expect the signature gatherers for the petitions to hit the street shortly. Why such a long lead time? Well, like the rest of the country, California is suffering under the current economic downturn. Unemployment in the state overall is at 10.5%, but in some counties is at 15% and above. Mexican job stealers and welfare recipients make an easy target. By the end of the year, voters might not be in such a state of panic, which is the state of mind the CCRX is counting on.
And who is behind this latest bit of xenophobia? The Bee article didn't provide a link, but did provide enough information to find the web site of the primary group: Taxpayer Revolution. Here's their summation of the proposition:
The Initiative’s Laws Will:
REQUIRE issuance of the official "CALIFORNIA BIRTH CERTIFICATE” for births to ONLY citizens and legal permanent residents. Birth to Foreign Parent document issued to all others.
STOP 18 years of WELFARE payments to illegal aliens for their U.S. born children.
ALLOW only CITIZENS AND PERMANENT LEGAL RESIDENTS eligibility for all public benefits including non-emergency and pre-natal care.
ALLOWS Homeland Security to review approved applications for federal benefits that illegal aliens are permitted to receive due to a U.S. born child.
Sweet, eh?
What is so amazing about this move is that the last time an earlier iteration of CCRX succeeded in pushing such an odious proposition through (Proposition 187), the courts gutted the proposition as unconstitutional. It doesn't look like the current attempt will fare much better, given the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. That doesn't appear to bother the current crop, however.
If you nose around this web site you'll find some of the other endorsers of the proposition ("Patriots" all), which includes Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R.-Huntington Beach), a gentleman who apparently doesn't take his oath to protect and defend the US Constitution too seriously.
Unfortunately, the proposition will probably qualify by the end of the summer for inclusion on the June 2010 ballot. What remains to be seen is whether the people of California will once again buy into this peculiar brand of rabid racism.
God, I hope not.
Labels: California, Racism
posted by Diane at 2:43 PM
4 Comments:
This is the danger of 'democracy' by plebiscite.
Fear almost always prevails when it has enough money to spread the word...
Hey, Woody!
What he said.
And where I come from, the word "gentleman" would be more carefully applied.
So the SCOTUS in the 1880s issued two conflicting judgements to the issue of children born to non-citizens. From Wikipedia (paraphrased)- Neither in those two decisions nor in any subsequent case has the Supreme Court explicitly ruled on whether children born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents are entitled to birthright citizenship via the amendment, although that has generally been assumed to be the case. Generally assumed to be the case. I think the folks in CA want to take their concerns to the highest court (oxymoron) in the country to declare the children of undocumented residents person non grata. The shame.
This makes me curious as to what other countries do - thanks!
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