The Immigration Trap

The National Journal reported that: Voters may be focused on the economy, but members of Congress can't seem to help themselves when a new wedge issue comes along. Republicans are seizing, once again, on illegal immigration in the hopes of ginning up an already excited base. But if they aren't careful, the long-term consequences of threatening a re-examination of birthright citizenship will far outweigh the short-term benefits. So far, only Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., have said they want to alter the 14th Amendment itself. Graham has decried birthright citizenship with language that evokes the harshest rhetoric Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., used during debates over immigration in 2005.

Birthright "to me cheapens American citizenship. That's not the way I would like it to be awarded. And you've got the other problem, where thousands of people are coming across the Arizona/Texas border for the express purpose of having a child in an American hospital so that child will become an American citizen, and they broke the law to get there," Graham said Tuesday on Fox News. The idea is little more than a clever way to allow Republicans to talk to their base without actually promising any movement on the issue. "Birthright citizenship" is the newest catchphrase that gets illegal immigration opponents riled up, and Republicans can safely talk about the issue without fear of being forced to act. What they should fear is the wrath of Hispanic voters.