The GOP's "Legal" Immigration Coalition

It's so hard to keep track of all the right wing organizations that are pushing disgusting and heinous legislation and ideas across the United States - there are so many of them.

But one organization that people should be aware of in relation to the President's recent push for amnesty for children is the State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) group.  Their push is a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment - which over the long-term could result in disastrous results for almost every person in the United States.

The press release from the SLLI webpage states:

State Legislators for Legal Immigration Condemns Obama’s Backdoor Amnesty Decree

6/18/2012

HARRISBURG – State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI), founded by Pennsylvania State Representative Daryl Metcalfe, announced its opposition to President Obama’s most recent attempt at incremental amnesty for illegal aliens currently residing in the United States.

Friday’s Executive Order would allow for illegal aliens, between the ages of 16 and 30, to receive a two-year legal work authorization. Limited criteria must be met to qualify and it is anticipated that anywhere from 800,000 to one million illegal aliens will be eligible. The work authorization will also able to be renewed an indefinite number of times.

“This is just yet another attempt at backdoor amnesty that violates the balance of power established by our Founding Fathers and it is a blatant attack on our Constitution,” said Metcalfe. “Obama continually chooses to represent the interests of foreign national illegal aliens over the interests of the American people.”

From the webpage of State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) you have these few snips from the Founder – Daryl Metcalfe (PA-ALEC)

Dear Friends:

Each and every self-evident truth contained in the Declaration of Independence was designed to abolish all foreign government power from the borders of the American colonies. 

Similar to the American Revolution, the personal and economic safety of Pennsylvanians and all American citizens depends upon definitive action being taken by our federal, state and local governments to end the ongoing invasion of illegal aliens through our borders. 

State Legislators for Legal Immigration represents a 21st Century Declaration of Independence to protect Pennsylvanians and United States citizens from property theft, drug running, human trafficking, increased violent crime, increased gang activity, terrorism and the many other clear and present dangers directly associated with illegal immigration.

Since Washington DC remains AWOL on fulfilling its Constitutional responsibilities to secure our nation's borders against foreign invaders, it is not only incumbent, but the obligation of state lawmakers in Pennsylvania and across the nation to step up and do the job that our federal government refuses to do. 

So what does this innocuous and seemingly harmless statement suggest?

The first reporting of this was back in January 2011 – with this press statement from SLLI (my emphasis)

State Lawmakers Convened in D.C. to Deliver Historic, Nationwide Correction to the 14th Amendment Misapplication

1/5/2011

Pennsylvania State Representative and State Legislators for Legal Immigration (SLLI) founder Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler County), state lawmakers and Constitutional scholars from across the nation convened in Washington D.C. today to unveil historic model legislation to correct the monumental misapplication of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This historic press conference was held on the same day as the swearing-in of the 112th Congress; encouraging that one of the first actions should be to uphold their oath and defend the Constitution to protect the states from the illegal alien invasion. 

“According to the 14th Amendment, the primary requirements for U.S. citizenship are dependent on total allegiance to America, not mere physical geography,” said Metcalfe. “The purpose of this model legislation is to restore the original intent of the 14th Amendment, which is currently being misapplied and is encouraging illegal aliens to cross and cost American taxpayers $113 billion annually, or nearly $1,117 yearly per individual taxpayer.”

Currently, hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are crossing U.S. borders to give birth and exploit their child as an “anchor baby,” as a means to obtain residency, access taxpayer-funded benefits and steal American jobs for themselves and for their families.

During an 1866 Congressional debate, U.S. Representative John Bingham of Ohio, considered one of the fathers of the 14th Amendment, said “...every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the language of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen...”  

“I’ve long considered birthright citizenship to be the holy grail of the illegal immigration debate,” said Oklahoma State Rep. Randy Terrill. “It has created a perverse incentive for foreign nationals to break U.S. law and proven to be a policy disaster for our Republic.”

snip

“Today we are here in Washington D.C. to serve Congress with notice that both the U.S. Constitution and the federal government were created by the states,” said Metcalfe. “Just like any other national policy, America’s immigration laws must protect the lives, liberty and property of American citizens, rather than foreign invaders.”  

Including Pennsylvania, lawmakers from 40 state legislatures, or 80 percent of the nation, have now signed on as members of SLLI.   

  

Ready????  …  The ALEC/IRLI/SLLI States of America want power over the 14th Amendment so they can control “illegal” aliens.

Then you have this from Media Matters - my emphasis

The ALEC-IRLI Anti-Immigrant Push To Redefine Citizenship

May 16, 2012 9:30 am ET by Simon Maloy

On January 5, 2011, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, a group called State Legislators for Legal Immigration held a press event announcing their intention to change meaning of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, which has granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" ever since it was ratified in 1868. The group wants to force a reinterpretation of the amendment to prevent children of undocumented immigrants from obtaining citizenship, thus removing (in SLLI's view) an incentive for people to cross the border illegally.

Their primary weapon in this crusade is a model bill that says children must have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen (or resident alien) in order to be eligible for state citizenship. The bill, which runs contrary to over 100 years of legal precedent, was designed so that legislators could take it back to their states, work to get it passed, and then get sued with the hope that the case makes it all the way to a Supreme Court which would then overturn that precedent.

.

Read the whole thing  >>>>HERE<<<

AND YES ALEC IS INVOLVED as noted in the Media Matters article:

IRLI is not the only conservative organization pushing model legislation on this issue. A similar model bill approved by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in 2008 provides for state legislatures to call on Congress to "enact legislation clarifying the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution as denying citizenship status to children of illegal aliens."

Both ALEC and IRLI draft and disseminate model legislation to state legislatures to promote conservative interests. IRLI defines their mission as being "dedicated to advocating for the rights and interests of United States citizens in immigration-related matters," while ALEC, backed by a range of corporate giants, tailors model bills for a broad range of (mainly economic) issues. ALEC's 2008 bill to "clarify" the 14th Amendment came out of their Public Safety and Elections task force, which was recently scuttled after drawing fire for promoting controversial "Stand Your Ground" gun laws. Though the task force is now defunct, its former chairman told Media Matters that immigration policy is "certainly still very much on the table."

Check your state legislators
Are they a member of SLLI
and
a member of ALEC?
The legislator from Minnesota is a member of both.


If you were to push this to the extremism that the right wing is so well known for now-a-days
- here are some issues that YOU may have to consider.

It doesn't matter where you were born in the US
It doesn't matter how long your parents or grandparents have lived in the US
It doesn't matter if you're parents were born in the US
It doesn't matter what color your skin is - or what color your eyes are
 - it does not matter!
YOU have to prove your great-grandparents, grandparents and  parents were legal US citizens
- if you can not prove ALL your ancestors came into this country legally
- YOU are an illegal immigrant.

Could you prove your ALL your ancestors came into this country legally?
Can you prove your grandparents were legal citizens?
Can you prove your great grandparents came into the US legally?.
  If you cannot prove it - your entire family are illegal immigrants.
CAN YOU PROVE IT?

Who was the anchor baby in your family?
One of your parents?
One of your grandparents?
One of your great grandparents?

My grandparents and my mother came over from Europe in the early 1900's.
Can I prove they entered the country legally?
NOPE.
Is my oldest sibling the "anchor baby"?
Am I the 60+ year old child of illegal immigrants?

How far are the right wing extremist willing to push their 

model legislation to correct the monumental misapplication of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The group wants to force a reinterpretation of the amendment to prevent children of undocumented immigrants from obtaining citizenship,

Crazy right wing extremist groups - flying under the radar - cause there are so many of them - one for each extreme right wing idea.

UPDATE:  JULY 2, 2012

In a news release from Friday, June 29th, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, the founder of the Tanton Network’s State Legislators for Legal Immigration, was quoted as having said:

“There are no innocent illegal aliens because their very first step across the border is a criminal violation of federal immigration law. After that they must break law after law in order to survive, including, but certainly not limited to, committing welfare fraud and stealing jobs from taxpaying Pennsylvania citizens. Since the federal government remains AWOL in fulfilling its constitutional obligation to defend the states against foreign invasion, Pennsylvania state lawmakers have no choice but to stand together to advance the National Security Begins at Home package [...which] will serve as a significant economic deterrent to Pennsylvania’s illegal alien invasion.”

John Tanton's Network.

.The organized anti-immigration "movement" is almost entirely the handiwork of one man, Michigan activist John H. Tanton.

Here is a list of 13 groups in the loose-knit Tanton network, followed by acronyms if the groups use them, founding dates, and Tanton's role in the groups.

Those organizations designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center are marked with an asterisk (*).

In this list, "founded" means a group was founded or co-founded by John Tanton. "Funded" means that U.S. Inc., the funding conduit created and still headed by Tanton, has made grants to the group.