Plan urging citizenship ban killed
April M. Washington, Rocky Mountain News
Published July 8, 2006 at midnight
A Republican proposal recommending that Congress deny citizenship to babies born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants was defeated Friday as Democrats called it "racist and repugnant."
More than 6,000 children are born to illegal immigrant mothers in Colorado every year and are considered Americans.
Their automatic citizenship is upheld by the Constitution, but some Republicans want it stopped.
"The racism behind this is repugnant to me," said Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver, who led the charge that defeated the proposal in a Senate committee.
"The whole idea of dragging kids into this discussion is reprehensible.
"If Congress wants to change the 14th Amendment, then they should have that conversation in Washington."
Senate Joint Memorial 1 would have asked Congress to amend the 14th Amendment to state that children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants do not automatically become citizens.
The resolution's sponsor, Sen. Ron Teck, R-Grand Junction, argued that more than 300,000 children are born to illegal immigrants each year in the U.S., costing taxpayers millions.
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