Part 4: Strategies for Reforming American Education
By Carole Hornsby Haynes Ph.D.
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas In the 1982 landmark court decision Plyler v. Doe the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that children of illegal aliens have a constitutional right" to a free and appropriate public education with equal protection of the law under the 14
th Amendment. This court decision has resulted in states being forced to pay for the public education of thousands of illegal immigrant children in American schools nationwide even though many have no path to legal status upon graduatation.
Southern border states have had a huge influx of illegal immigrants since 1982 resulting in enormous financial burdens on those states.
In Texas the greatest percentage of the
identifiable costs of entitlements received by illegal immigrants is for their education. Since more than 60000 illegal babies are born annually in Texas the cost to taxpayers is staggering.
According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) report the annual per pupil expenditure is
$11567. That brings the cost to educate the 60000 illegal immigrant children born in one year to nearly $700000000 and that is only for one year of their education!
Texas House Representative Leo Berman stated recently that the
annual cost is $5 billion for
free education and
free healthcare for the 2.5 million illegal aliens living in Texas.
Small wonder that our Texas budget is so bloated!
That money could be spent to fund the shortfall in the education budget!
Because of leftist judges Texans are being forced to educate children who are the responsibility of other countries.
How did we arrive at this bizarre junction?
The Fourteenth Amendment ratified in 1868 states that 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." Its purpose
was to overrule the Dred Scott decision which declared African Americans could not be citizens.
American Indians were denied citizenship initially because they were subject to the jurisdiction of their own tribal governments and not to the United States.
According to the wording of the14
th Amendment a woman who was not born or naturalized in the U.S. is not a citizen and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. If that woman gives birth to a baby on U.S. soil that baby
is subject to the jurisdiction of the mothers country and not to the U.S. Therefore the baby cannot automatically be an American citizen.
That is until the Plyler v. Doe decision gave automatic U.S. citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil regardless of the citizenship status of the parents.
Now because of
activist Supreme Court Justices seeking to rule Americans from the bench by judicial supremacy illegal pregnant women can come to U.S. soil to give birth with the tab picked up by taxpayers who also include gift to baby of U.S. citizenship with all American rights and privileges.
In addition taxpayers must provide other highly lucrative baby gifts of free medical care free education food stamps and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.
Next chain migration begins when the anchor baby" reaches adulthood and is free to legalize his parents a foreign spouse and foreign siblings all of whom can in turn bring in the whole family entourage.
No wonder our federal budget is so bloated!
Not only are large numbers of illegal aliens crossing our southern borders in a steady flow but the birth tourism" industry lures expectant mothers from all over the world including China and Turkey to give birth in the U.S. for the purpose of obtaining citizenship. The Turkish owned upper eastside luxury hotel the Marmara Manhattan markets birth tourism packages to expectant mothers abroad for a tidy sum of $8000.
The Pew Hispanic Center a research organization in Washington D.C. reports that unauthorized immigrants are having babies in the United States at a higher rate than the general population. Between 300000-400000 babies are born annually to illegal mothers accounting for 8-10 percent of all babies born in the U.S.
The children of illegal immigrants who tend to be very poor and lacking in education and skills are immediately eligible for every social program offered in the U.S. The burden falls on American citizens who are continually gouged for more taxes to support the welfare programs legislated by our liberal politicians.
The United States is one of the few remaining countries to grant citizenship to all children born on its soil. The United Kingdom Ireland India and Australia among others have since revised their birthright laws no longer allowing every child born on their soil to receive citizenship.
In recent months thousands of illegal aliens have held demonstrations to demand more handouts and threatened continued violence and shooting of police until their demands are met. Many are demanding that their Hispanic
culture be preserved and that the U.S. change its national language from English.
The signs displayed at the demonstrations are appalling and should wake up any wild-eyed sympathizer who wants to grant amnesty to millions of people who knew all along they were breaking the law. They strum at our heart strings with their pleadings that it is cruel to deport people and separate families.
When people break the law they must bear the responsibility and accept the penalty. We cannot change the law in midstream to absolve them of their guilt. Nor should we bear any responsibilityor feelings of guilt--for their family problems which they have created.
This is a far different group of immigrants from those who have come to America in the past.
Earlier immigrants:
- Assimilated & learned the customs and laws of their new land
- Learned English and worked hard to build a new & better life for themselves and their families
- Were fiercely independent and took responsibility for their own lives instead of seeking government handouts
- Were grateful for the unlimited opportunities available in America and
- Looked forward with great pride to becoming American citizen
Where do we place blame for the insanity of this anchor baby scheme and the financial burdens that are threatening to bankrupt our nation and states?
Blame belongs to our elected officials in Congress who have allowed the Supreme Court to usurp their Constitutional power to enforce the 14
th Amendment.
Congress also must accept blame for continuing to pass legislation for expensive welfare programs that destroy individual initiative and self respect create dysfunctional family units and burden Americans with debt to pay for the upkeep of people who knowingly break our laws and then demand to be financially supported and handed American citizenship.
Blame also belongs to the Supreme Court Justices who believe the Constitution has given them the right to be the final arbiter on what is constitutional. They have no fear of their masters because they enjoy appointed lifetime positions without having to bear responsibility to the electorate for their unconstitutional judicial opinions.
Congress has the power given to them by the 14
th Amendment to solve the illegal immigrant problem.
According to Amendment XIV Section5 Congress shall have the power to enforce by appropriate legislation the provisions of this article."
Congress alone and
not the judicial or executive branches!
However these elected officials who have sworn to uphold the Constitution
have breached their responsibility and permitted themselves to be bullied by the judiciary branch.
Any member of Congress or the judiciary Supreme Court Justice or federal judge who violates his/her sacred oath to uphold the Constitution is a traitor and must be removed through the ballot box or impeachment.
It was Abraham Lincoln who reminded us
We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
If we are going to solve the crushing problems that exist within our nation we must be willing to tear out their roots.
- First we must understand the original intent of our Founders when they wrote the Constitution.
- Next we must review the numerous court decisions handed down over many decades by liberal Supreme Court Justices and federal judges who have ignored the Constitution and instead predicated their decisions upon other unconstitutional court opinions.
- Then collectively we must press forward to overturn those decisions that have wreaked chaos and financial ruin upon our nation and resulted in the loss of our liberty and rights.
- And last we must rid our nation of any member of Congress or the judiciary who does not uphold the Constitution.
There is much damage to undo.
But we can and we must undo it all….NOW!
Carole Hornsby Haynes welcomes comments at chaynes@teapartyforkids.org. Additional information is available by visiting www.TeaPartyForKids.org.
