“Anchor Babies,” Immigration Reform, and the Constitution
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS: Ashley Berke Alex McKechnie Director of Public Relations Public Relations Coordinator 215.409.6693 215.409.6895 [email protected] [email protected] “ANCHOR BABIES,” IMMIGRATION REFORM, AND THE CONSTITUTION: PANELISTS PUT THE 14 TH AMENDMENT TO THE TEST DURING THE PETER JENNINGS PROJECT AT THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER Philadelphia, PA (February 14, 2011) – The National Constitution Center will be Putting the 14 th Amendment to the Test with a conversation on the hotly debated issues of immigration reform and birthright citizenship on Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. The program is part of the Center’s 2011 Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution . Admission is FREE, but reservations are required and can be made by calling 215.409.6700 or online at www.constitutioncenter.org . Jeff Greenfield , senior political correspondent for CBS News, will facilitate this highly interactive event, featuring Jennings Project fellows who will represent various stakeholders in the immigration debate. The event also will feature a panel of distinguished guests, including John Eastman , Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Law at Chapman University School of Law; State Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-PA/12); Jorge Mursuli , president and CEO of Democracia Ahora; the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell ; and Cecillia Wang , Managing Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants' Rights Project. The citizenship clause of the 14 th Amendment reads: “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.” This language recently has come under attack by -MORE- ADD ONE/14 TH AMENDMENT those who believe that, by giving birth to "anchor babies" who automatically have American citizenship, illegal immigrants are using the 14 th Amendment to gain a legal foothold in the U.S. Putting the 14 th Amendment to the Test will explore whether the language of the 14 th Amendment should be modified, left in its present state, or reinterpreted to deny citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants. For further information on this topic, please reference the Center’s Constitutional Spotlight Series , a collection of essays that illuminates the history and constitutional relevance of current events. The series includes a piece called Birth Rights: Citizenship and the Constitution by constitutional scholar and legal journalist Linda R. Monk, J.D. This essay is currently available for download here . Jeff Greenfield is a veteran reporter of politics, media, and culture, and the senior political correspondent for CBS News. Greenfield previously spent nine years at CNN as senior analyst, where he covered primaries, conventions, presidential debates, and election nights, among other events. He was a political and media analyst for ABC News from 1983 to 1997, appearing on “Nightline” and delivering weekly commentaries for “World News Sunday.” Greenfield’s first stint at CBS was from 1979 to 1983, when he served as media commentator. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times Magazine , Harper's and National Lampoon , and he is the author or co-author of 11 books. Dr. John C. Eastman is the Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Law at Chapman University School of Law. He previously served as the School’s Dean from June 2007 to January 2010. Eastman is the Founding Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute. Previously, he served as the Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service. Prior to joining the Chapman Law faculty in August 1999, he served as a law clerk with Justice Clarence Thomas at the Supreme Court of the United States and with Judge J. Michael Luttig at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Eastman also practiced with the national law firm Kirkland & Ellis, specializing in major civil and constitutional litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. -MORE- ADD TWO/14 TH AMENDMENT Daryl Metcalfe , recognized by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s “No. 1 Conservative,” and a multiple-time, highest-ranking lawmaker on the Pennsylvania Liberty Index, currently is serving his seventh term in office. Metcalfe serves as the Republican Majority Chairman of the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee. During his tenure, he has been a leader on the issues of taxpayer protection, education reform, illegal immigration in Pennsylvania, protection of Second Amendment freedoms, outlawing teacher strikes, and the Right to Work law. Other legislative initiatives include proposals to completely eliminate property taxes in the Commonwealth and requiring voter referendum for any and all future local tax increases. Prior to his election, Metcalfe was employed with Dade Behring (formerly DuPont Diagnostics) for 13 years as a field engineer, where he was responsible for managing a biomedical service territory in western Pennsylvania. Metcalfe attended Kansas State University while serving in the United States Army at Fort Riley in Kansas. Jorge Mursuli emigrated from Cuba to Brooklyn, New York in 1967. Under his leadership, Democracia Ahora has grown to be one of the most effective Hispanic civic engagement and leadership training organizations in the nation. Previously, Mursuli served on the Board of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. He is the former Chair of the Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board Task Force on Police/Community Relations. In 2001, Mursuli joined People for the American Way (PFAW) Foundation as the Florida State Director. In September 2002, PFAW, together with SAVE Dade, led the fight – and were victorious – against a repeal of the sexual orientation clause in Miami-Dade’s Human Rights Ordinance. During the 2002 and 2004 elections, Mursuli was instrumental in organizing PFAW Foundation’s Election Protection program. Mursuli received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida. He currently serves on the National Board of the League of Conservation Voters. Marjorie O. Rendell was the 43 rd First Lady of Pennsylvania, and currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Previously, she served as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and as an attorney with the law firm of Duane, Morris & Heckscher LLP, where she became the firm’s second -MORE- ADD THREE/14 TH AMENDMENT woman partner. Rendell is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, an inaugural member and Master of the Villanova University School of Law J. Willard O’Brien Inn of Court, an elected member of The American Law Institute, and a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Federal Judges Association, the American Judicature Society, and the National Association of Women Judges. Cecillia Wang is the Managing Attorney for the California office of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants' Rights Project, which focuses on the intersection of immigration and criminal law and the impact of U.S. national security policies on non- citizens. Wang began her career at the Immigrants’ Rights Project as a fellow in 1997- 98 and rejoined the Project in 2004 after working at the federal public defender office for the Southern District of New York. From 2002 to 2004, she was appointed to the Criminal Justice Act indigent defense panel for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Previously, Wang served as a clerk for Judge William Norris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Justice Harry Blackmun of the Supreme Court of the United States. The 2011 Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution will take place from March 4 through March 6, 2011. Named in honor of the late, award-winning news anchor and friend of the National Constitution Center, the Peter Jennings Project allows professional journalists from print, broadcast, and online media organizations, as well as a select group of collegiate journalists from across the country, to examine the constitutional dimension in the news today and acquire a deeper understanding of the Constitution and its important role in the lives of all Americans. Kayce Freed Jennings , wife of Peter Jennings, serves on the board of the project, and veteran journalist Todd Brewster , who worked closely with Jennings and co-authored two books with him, is the program director. The Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution is made possible through the generosity of The Annenberg Foundation. -MORE- ADD FOUR/14 TH AMENDMENT The National Constitution Center, located at 525 Arch St. on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing public understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the ideas and values it represents. The Center serves as a museum, an education center, and a forum for debate on constitutional issues. The museum dramatically tells the story of the Constitution from Revolutionary times to the present through more than 100 interactive, multimedia exhibits, film, photographs, text, sculpture and artifacts, and features a powerful, award-winning theatrical performance, “Freedom Rising.” The Center also houses the Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach, which serves as the hub for national constitutional education. Also, as a nonpartisan forum for constitutional discourse, the Center presents – without endorsement – programs that contain diverse viewpoints on a broad range of issues. For more information, call 215.409.6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org . ### .