March 13, 2015

You may not know this since the media is not really reporting it at all, but the Senate is debating a human trafficking bill this week.

How noble, you might say. You might even think it was uncharacteristically decent of our Republican overlords to consider something as broad-reaching as a human trafficking bill.

Except really, it's just the Trojan Horse for their wish list of wedge issues. There's a sweet little expansion of the Hyde amendment banning the use of federal funds for abortions tucked into it, and then there's the amendment David Vitter desperately wants to see added, ending what he calls "birthright citizenship."

Birthright citizenship is just a fancy way of saying that no brown people better ever come here and have children, because if they do, they won't be citizens, no way, no how. What's the term they use for it? Oh, right. "Birth tourism."

Under current law, if a person is born in the United States, they are considered a citizen. Vitter wants to change that, arguing the promise has given rise to "birth tourism."

"This is a very real, in fact, exploding phenomenon. There is a whole industry, an underworld, that is selling so-called birth tourism," he said. "This acts as a magnet, a potent, powerful magnet, growing in power by the year to lure more and more folks to come across the border, in specific cases to have their babies here."

Under Vitter's amendment, a child born in the United States would be considered a citizen if at least one parent is a citizen, has a green card, or has served in the military.

The Louisiana Republican wants to attach the amendment to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which would boost resources for law enforcement and start a fund for victims of human trafficking.

He argued that amendment is relevant to the legislation because it is related to immigration.

"It addresses a very, very serious problem with our broken immigration system, and also a problem that leads to serious abuse and trafficking," he said, "which is why it is certainly relevant and pertinent in this ongoing discussion of the bill on the floor."

Wednesday's amendment isn’t the first time Vitter has suggested adjusting citizenship requirements. Civil rights groups are accusing the senator of trying to create a "modern-day caste system."

Which is, of course, exactly what Republicans want. A nice elitist caste system that excludes natural-born Americans from the same rights as other citizens.

Gotta watch these clowns every minute.

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