美国当前有关移民问题的大讨论中，一个爆炸性想法又再度被提了出来，即不应该给那些在美国出生、但其父母在美国系非法居留的孩子美国公民身份。
在这场有关是否修改美国移民法的角力中，一名国会参议员和亚利桑那州议会的一名议员是核心人物，他们本周分别建议，“在美国出生便自动享有美国公民身份”的权利不应授予那些非法移民的孩子。他们说，移民法的这一修改可以遏制非法越境进入美国的浪潮。
共和党籍国会参议员格拉汉姆(Lindsey Graham)周三晚上在接受福克斯新闻网(Fox News)采访时说，人们来美国生孩子或者他们把孩子带到美国来；不应该允许这种情况发生，这会吸引人们为了不当理由而来美国。
格拉汉姆在制定移民法修正案方面曾经与民主党人合作。他的建议令移民权利维护人士吃惊，这些人曾将格拉汉姆视为朋友。但格拉汉姆的这一举动却可能有助于他在自己的家乡南卡罗来纳州获得保守派选民的支持。
这 类呼吁改动美国移民体系基石的声音肯定会在社会上引发争论。左派智库美国进步中心(Center for American Progress)的凯莱(Angela Kelley)说，这是一种极端的立场，格拉汉姆参议员明白这一点；他不是一个乐于篡改宪法的人，所以我对他竟然提出这一建议感到吃惊。
亚利桑那州参议院的共和党籍议员皮尔斯(Russell Pearce)说，他想推动亚利桑那州不给予非法移民的孩子美国公民权。此前皮尔斯主导制定的亚利桑那州移民法遭到了奥巴马政府的法律挑战。
各方争论的焦点是美国宪法第14修正案，这一1868年通过的修正案当时旨在确保各州不能拒绝让曾经是奴隶身份的美国人获得全部美国公民权。该修正案强调：凡出生或归化于美国并受其管辖之人，皆为美国及其所居之州之公民。
The immigration debate is reviving the explosive idea of denying citizenship to children born on U.S. soil if their parents are in the country illegally.
A U.S. senator and a state lawmaker in Arizona, both central players in the battle over immigration law, separately proposed this week that 'birthright' citizenship be denied to the children of illegal immigrants. They said the change would help stem the flood of illegal border crossings.
'People come here to have babies. They come here to drop a child,' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said Wednesday night on Fox News. 'That shouldn't be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons.'
Mr. Graham is a one-time partner with Democrats in crafting a proposed overhaul of immigration laws. His proposal surprised immigration-rights advocates, who had seen Mr. Graham as a friend, but it may help him shore up his conservative credentials in his home state of South Carolina.
Such calls to change what has been a bedrock feature of the immigration system are sure to set off contentious debate. 'It's an extreme position, and Sen. Graham knows this,' said Angela Kelley of the left-leaning Center for American Progress. 'He's not one to tamper with the Constitution, so I'm surprised he would even suggest this.'
In Arizona, Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce, the architect of the immigration law that drew a legal challenge from the Obama administration, said he wanted to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in his state to illegal immigrants.
At issue is the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, enacted in 1868 to ensure that states not deny former slaves the full rights of citizenship. It states: '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.'