And notice I do not use the term “illegal immigrants.” I am talking about all immigrants. Anyone who has ever walked across the border of the United States to live a better life. Anyone who has ever come here to this country for peace, liberty, and freedom.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) says “It takes more than just walking across the border to become an American citizen. It’s what’s in our souls…”
Well, that’s true, it does take more than just walking across the border to become a citizen. There is a legal process and you do not become an American just by coming to America.
But, how does Mr. Hunter know what is in anyone’s soul other than his own?
I suppose what Mr. Hunter is talking about is the yearning for freedom, opportunity, and liberty. Well, how does he know that an immigrant does not possess an “American” soul as described above? Indeed, many immigrants do possess an American soul by default since that is why they come here in the first place, for opportunity, liberty and freedom.
Perhaps what Mr. Hunter means by an “American soul” is that he knows who an American is by looking at them. Kinda like that wonderful porn definition from the Supreme Court: “You know it when you see it.” Mr. Hunter is comfortable with people who look like and act like him. And anything different from what makes Mr. Hunter comfortable must be alien and illegal. They must not possess an American soul, since they make Mr. Hunter uncomfortable. That does not make Mr. Hunter a racist. It makes him a xenophobe.
Mr. Hunter would also deport American citizens who just happen to have illegal immigrant parents.
“Would you support deportation of natural-born American citizens that are the children of illegal aliens,” Hunter was asked. “I would have to, yes,” Hunter said. “… We simply cannot afford what we’re doing right now[.]” Hunter made his comments at a “tea party” rally in the San Diego County city of Ramona over the weekend.
Steve Benen quickly destroys this evil, immoral and unconstitutional statement by Mr. Hunter:
Let’s be real clear about this. The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that those “born … in the United States” are “citizens of the United States.” It also says that no state can “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
For that matter, the Supreme Court ruled in 1898 that a baby born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants was legally a U.S. citizen, even though federal law at the time denied citizenship to people from China. The court said birth in the United States constituted “a sufficient and complete right to citizenship.”
I simply cannot believe that Mr. Hunter, or the GOP at large, is this stupid politically. If they keep it up with statements like this, anyone not a white male will never vote for the GOP again in life. But sometimes xenophobia is a powerful impulse.