Fourteenth Amendment Be Damned

I mean really, what is it good for?

PHOENIX -- E-mails to and from Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce reveal the immigration enforcement debate may not stop with SB-1070, the controversial immigration law.

Pearce, R-Mesa, the author of Arizona’s immigration law, has been writing to some of his constituents about what he plans to accomplish next.

In e-mails obtained by CBS 5 News, Pearce said he intends to push for a bill that would enable Arizona to no longer grant citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants born on U.S. soil.

Pearce wrote in one e-mail: "I also intend to push for an Arizona bill that would refuse to accept or issue a birth certificate that recognizes citizenship to those born to illegal aliens, unless one parent is a citizen."

Unconstitutionality notwithstanding, it's amazing to me how quickly we look to obviate the Constitution whenever it becomes convenient. I must have missed the fine print or the asterisk where it says, "Unless the person totally sucks or you disagree with them or they are brown or just kind of piss you off in general." A citizen is a citizen. Period.

We are now reaching a point in our failed national discourse where elected officials at all levels of government are looking at carving out specific provisions for who can and can not be called a citizen or retain their citizenship. Just a few weeks ago, Sen. Joe Lieberman introduced a bill that would strip American citizenship from anyone who joins a terrorist organization or takes up arms against the US. Even Attorney General Eric Holder has publicly expressed support for stripping American terror suspects of their Miranda rights. I mean, you know you've really gone off a ckuff when Glenn Beck becomes a voice of reason.

So in addition to American born terrorists, let's add immigrants to that list as well. And why stop there? We can always add more carve outs as we go for anyone else that we deem unworthy along the way. But remember - this is the stuff of the real America, where we value strict interpretation of the Constitution and limited government. Attempting health care reform or increased government spending during a massive recession is the true source of government overreach and tyranny.

It's a shame that we didn't have a law like Pearce's on the books at Ellis Island, what with all those dirty immigrants coming here for the sole purpose of hatching litters of anchor babies.

(h/t ThinkProgress)