Latina health advocates condemn new attack on birthright citizenship

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) condemns new federal legislation introduced by Representative Steve King (R-IA) that seeks to deny 14th amendment rights to citizenship and targets immigrant families. The bill (HR-140) would deny birthright citizenship to children of some immigrant parents.
“Representative King has a long and shameful record of spouting hateful rhetoric that demonizes immigrant mothers and attacks immigrant families. This newest attack is the same old story,” says Jessica González-Rojas, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.  “While NLIRH activists, allies, and many policymakers are gearing up to fix our nation’s broken immigration system, Representative King and the other sponsors of this legislation are instead trying to upend centuries of constitutional law to deny the rights of US-born citizens.”
The 14th amendment reads, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside,” and has been consistently interpreted by courts to protect birthright citizenship, regardless of the immigration status of one’s parents.
NLIRH, along with the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, form the Steering Committee of the National Coalition for Immigrant Women’s Rights, the leading national coalition focusing on women’s and gender issues in immigration policy and public discourse. The coalition represents more than 70 leading organizations with a presence nationally and in every state.
For more information about attacks on birthright citizenship and the response from reproductive justice and immigrants’ rights advocates, please visit: http://nciwr.wordpress.com/campaigns/.
 
###
 
The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health is the only national organization working on behalf of the reproductive health and justice of the 24 million Latinas, their families and communities in the United States through public education, community mobilization and policy advocacy.