GOP Lists 14th Amendment as an ‘Accomplishment’ on Website

Some Republicans, including Sens. Lindsey Graham, Chuck Grassley, John McCain, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and others, have been calling for hearings to discuss the possibility of altering the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — the one that grants citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants in the U.S. While Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold, chair of the Constitution Subcommittee, says no-can-do on the hearings, here’s an interesting sidenote: The GOP’s website touts the 14th Amendment as one of its “accomplishments” — one that’s now apparently open to revision.

“The 14th Amendment guarantees due process and equal protection of the laws to all citizens.  It enshrines in the Constitution provisions of the GOP’s 1866 Civil Rights Act. The original purpose of the 14th Amendment was to defend African-Americans from their Democrat oppressors in the post-Civil War South,” the GOP page reads. “The principal author of the 14th Amendment was U.S. Rep. John Bingham (R-OH).  In Congress, all votes in favor of the 14th Amendment were from Republicans, and all votes against it were from Democrats.”

“I may introduce a constitutional amendment that changes the rules if you have a child here,” Graham told Fox News last week. “Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake …  We should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.”

“People come here to have babies,” he continued. “They come here to drop a child. It’s called ‘drop and leave.’ To have a child in America, they cross the border, they go to the emergency room, have a child, and that child’s automatically an American citizen. That shouldn’t be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons.”

Democrats say the move to look at the amendment is election-year grandstanding.

“If you think it’s a coincidence this is coming up three months before the election, you are mistaken,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told ABC. “This is a political issue. You’re going to hear about guns, you’re going to hear about gays. You’re going to hear about immigration,” he said.

There are several parts to the 14th Amendment. Here’s the text of the “Citizenship Clause,” which is the portion in question:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

There’s long been contention about the amendment and interpretations of it, however. It’s often noted that the 14th Amendment is cited in litigation more than any other amendment.