SEMINAR: IMMIGRATION DEBATE: BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP AND THE 14TH AMENDMENT

American Bar Association
Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice

Immigration Debate:
Birthright Citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment

May 18, 2007

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. CST

The Driskill Hotel

604 Brazos Street, Austin, TX 78701

In-Person or Teleconference Event

The American people are frustrated with the lack of enforcement of law at the border, and are increasingly open to new policies, including policies to eliminate the incentives for illegal entry. No one disputes that superior economic opportunity in the United States is a strong magnet. But some policy activists have also begun to contend that birthright citizenship for children born in the United States is another important attraction. Accordingly, numerous proposals have been introduced in Congress to repeal birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented persons, as well as for the children of persons other than U.S. citizens and aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, however, provides that "[a]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." In light of this provision, are these proposals to repeal birthright citizenship by statute constitutional? And in light of this nation's traditions, customs, and values, are these proposals good policy?

Moderator:
• Anna Williams Shavers, Professor of Law, University of Nebraska College of Law, Lincoln, NE

Panelists:

• John C. Eastman, Interim Associate Dean of Administration and Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service, Orange, CA
• Robert F. Holland, Associate Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law, Houston, TX
• James C. Ho, Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, Dallas, TX
• Margaret Stock, Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York

http://www.abanet.org/adminlaw/spring2007/home.html