Bill would end 'birthright citizenship'

[Soldier4Christ]

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Some conservatives in Congress want to deny automatic U.S. citizenship to children born on U.S. soil whose parents are illegal immigrants.

A group of 92 lawmakers in the House will attempt next week to force a vote on legislation that would revoke the principle of "birthright citizenship," to discourage illegal immigration, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Those who want to change the policy say the United States is one of few major industrialized nations that grant birthright citizenship with no qualifications.

Although several revocation bills have been introduced in the House, the most likely one to move forward would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are not citizens or permanent resident aliens, the newspaper said.

While there is no official tally of the number of children born to illegal immigrants, unofficial estimates range from 100,000 to 350,000 a year. Critics of current immigration law say that 1 in 10 U.S. births are to women who have entered the country illegally.