Nevada Sen. Harry Reid was the top Democrat on Capitol Hill for many a year, which was why conservatives were quick to point out that the Democratic Party didn’t always have such lenient views on illegal immigration, amnesty, and birthright citizenship. Similar to how President Trump tweeted a video of then-Sen. Barack Obama insisting that we needed law and order at the southern border, conservatives have pointed to a 1993 speech by Reid, in which the former Senate Majority Leader said it was madness to confer automatic citizenship on the babies of illegal immigrants.
“If making it easy to be an illegal alien isn’t enough, how about offering a reward for being an illegal immigrant?” Reid said at the time. “No sane country would do that, right? Guess again. If you break our laws by entering this country without permission and give birth to a child, we reward that child with U.S. citizenship and guarantee a full access to all public and social services this society provides. And that’s a lot of services. Is it any wonder that two-thirds of the babies born at taxpayer expense at country-run hospitals in Los Angeles are born to illegal alien mothers?”
It’s almost unimaginable in this day and age that a Democrat – a DEMOCRAT – would say these things, but this is a clear window into just how extreme and outlandish this party has become over the last 25 years. Reid himself only stuck with the idea until 1999, when his union supporters changed their position on birthright citizenship. In 2006, he said advocating for a law amending birthright citizenship was the “low point” of his Washington career.
Right up until he hit himself in the face with a piece of exercise equipment. But we digress…
Today, the Democratic Party is all about abolishing ICE, refusing to deport anyone who isn’t an actual, active rapist, and shielding criminal aliens from the federal government’s long arm of justice. Naturally, they are apoplectic about President Trump’s warning that he will soon sign an executive order ending birthright citizenship by fiat.
It’s not clear whether or not Trump has the authority to do so, but we may soon find out. The order will be immediately challenged in court – of that we can be 100% certain. At that point it will head to the Supreme Court, where the esteemed panel of justices will be tasked with deciding once and for all how far the rights of the 14th Amendment stretch. We think there’s an excellent case to be made for Trump’s position. At the very least, it’s a piece of unsettled constitutional business that deserves a fair hearing.
Just ask Harry Reid!
