MELISSA FRANCIS (CO-HOST): The problem I think with the president taking this up, even though he's hardly the first person to think of it, is the idea -- the history of the 14th Amendment. And when it was ratified in 1868, related to Dred Scott [v. Sandford] and all of its ties through history, basically, I mean, I'm not a lawyer, but have to do with race relations. So it's -- to me it seems like a very bad idea to pick up this fight right now.
LAWRENCE JONES (CAMPUS REFORM): Yes, I come at it from two lenses. I agree with the president's frustration, I'm very upset with Congress for inaction. But at the same time, the law is the law. And so I believe the president is going to get himself in a legal battle that I think he would lose at the Supreme Court. Whether he wants to be frustrated -- this is the process in America. And so when he does this before an election, yes, it will get some of the base riled up, but it's also going to get people on the left riled up, because it says that the president doesn't respect the Constitution. I disagree with that. I think there are a lot of people that made the same argument as the president, but even our Judge Napolitano has said, “This is very clear, people. The 14th Amendment stands.” And so I think this is a bad move for the president.
KATIE PAVLICH (CO-HOST): I would say there's a distinction, though, with the 14th Amendment. It was put in place to -- for freed slaves to become citizens of the United States, to make them equal citizens and to unify the country. So that's different than illegal immigrants coming to the country and having children and wanting them to be equal, and then, of course, that means that the parents eventually, usually, get to say because we're a compassionate country and we don't want to tear families apart and deport the parents and keep the citizen children here. That being said, this is a legal issue that the president’s going to have to take on. The Supreme Court has not ruled specifically on this issue.
But the broader point is, there is a very serious problem with birth tourism fraud. China has an entire curriculum for families that come to California, they apply for visas under -- saying they're going to work or they're just coming to visit. And then they have children here, and then it -- essentially the entire family gets to stay. Russia's also doing this with Florida. So the issue here is really visa fraud and people coming here to have children, to gain that access to the United States through a child's citizenship.
