King Of Wishful Not-Thinking

Iowa GOP Rep. Steve King is slated to become the head of the House subcommittee that handles immigration, and BooMan wants him to bring the full frontal crazy.

I don't know how united the House Republicans are in their dislike of Latinos, so it's hard to say whether or not the soon-to-be chairman of the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law will be able to pass a law banning birthright citizenship. There are a couple of obvious obstacles standing in Rep. Steve King's (R-IA) way. The first is that such a statute would be plainly unconstitutional. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is unequivocal:

"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."

That clause became necessary to assure that the newly-emancipated slaves would be granted full citizenship rights. In other words, birthright citizenship was established as a constitutional principle to protect non-whites from discrimination of the kind currently being pursued by Rep. King. King's first problem, therefore, is that he has to convince a majority of the House to vote for something that is both racist and unconstitutional.

His second hurdle is getting people to vote for a plainly racist and unconstitutional law that will only serve to further alienate the growing Latino population from the Republican Party. There are a lot of Republicans who can read demographic trends in their districts and states, and who are not going to be eager to join in an effort to piss off Latinos. But King is going to try anyway. 

The third obstacle would have to be the Senate.  Who says Harry Reid would even bring King's legislation up for a vote?  Not me.

Fourth, like President Obama would sign this into law.

It's a complete waste of the American people's time.  But like BooMan says, let him do that.  Let him prove that the Republican "solution" to our problems as a country of 310 million Americans is to persecute Latinos for short-term political gain, Latinos who are our friends, neighbors, co-workers and loved ones.  Let them show all they have is more scapegoating and hatred.  Let them show their true nature.  Let him become a national embarrassment to Iowa.

Can't wait for 2012's GOP national party platform, which will no doubt include the desire to overturn half the amendments in the Constitution and go after anyone darker than Orange Julius.  That should go over well.