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Article: A bold remedy to a grave threat: because the 14th Amendment's original intent has been ignored and the amendment has been used to grant citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants, Congress needs to clarify the meaning of the amendment's language.(CONSTITUTION CORNER)
- Article from:
- The New American
- Article date:
- October 31, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 American Opinion Publishing, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Drafters of constitutional texts, be they members of the constitutional convention in 1787 or members of Congress who craft a constitutional amendment, cannot always foresee all of the nuances of governmental mismanagement and malfeasance that may follow their creations. Examples abound, especially with the 14th Amendment. It was ratified in 1868 as a post-Civil War remedy, to secure rights and protections for American citizens freed by the 13th Amendment from the scourge of slavery.
The purpose of the 13th and 14th Amendments was limited to securing these rights. Nothing appears from the events surrounding their drafting and ratification to suggest any general ...