Interesting story from Ireland “[Irish]

voters have overwhelmingly approved a plan to do away with a constitutional

provision granting automatic Irish citizenship to any child born in Ireland

or the neighboring British territory of Northern Ireland…”

The U.S. government currently interprets the first sentence of the 14th

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as requiring that anyone born in the U.S.

is automatically a citizen — an interpretation very similar to the

constitutional provision the Irish have just voted down. This has led to

the phenomena of “obstetric tourists” and “anchor babies”: women from abroad

(especially South Korea, now increasingly China) getting pregnant, coming to

the U.S. for delivery, and going home with a U.S. citizen.

This interpretation of the 14th Amendment is not the only possible one.

There is plenty of wiggle room in the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction

thereof,” and if we ever turn our attention to constructing a rational

citizenship/population policy, this is something we should debate.

(That is, of course, a mighty big “if.” Attempting to start a debate on

this point at the present time will get you tagged a “nativist,”

“xenophobe,” and very likely “racist” — filled, of course, with “hate” –

by the massed forces of Political Correctness. As to holding a referendum

so that U.S. citizens can vote on a topic like this — Heaven forbid!)