Children born in the United States to foreign diplomats assigned to Washington’s Embassy Row and elsewhere in the country are wrongfully getting Social Security cards — and potentially benefits — taking advantage of the “citizenship clause” that makes kids born here Americans, according to a new report.
While the Social Security Administration knows the children of any diplomat shouldn’t get a Social Security number at birth, like those of legal and illegal immigrants, it admits that it is happening, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.
Recommended Stories
“This results in some confusion within state and federal agencies since a non-citizen is in possession of a validly issued U.S. birth certificate and Social Security number gives the appearance of U.S. citizenship, meaning jobs and benefits reserved for U.S. citizens could be granted to these children,” added the report issued Monday.
The wrongful issuing of Social Security numbers to children of diplomats is one of dozens of abuses CIS cited in its list of 79 actions the president — or his successor — can make to reform immigration.
Recommendation No. 14:
Direct the Social Security Administration to come up with a way to stop issuing Social Security numbers to children of foreign diplomats. All sides of the immigration debate agree that such children are not to be considered U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
Mark Krikorian, the center’s executive director, said, “Civil rights pioneer Barbara Jordan noted that credibility in immigration policy is simple: ‘Those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave.’ These 79 recommendations would be a huge step toward that goal.”
The center’s list is a primer on the problems with legal and illegal immigration and a provides reforms as well as suggestions to curb the flood of undocumented immigrants pouring over the border.
For example, instead of letting pro-immigrant groups use the birthday of immigrant champion Cesar Chavez to promote rights, use it to send a message that illegals won’t be welcomed. ‘Declare Cesar Chavez’s birthday, March 31, to be National Border Control Day,'” said the group.
Other key recommendations include taking DNA samples from immigrants and ending so-called “birther tourism” by barring immigrant women who are near giving birth.
Some of the suggestions highlighted by CIS include:
— Deny asylum to any alien who could have sought asylum in countries through which he has traveled en route to the United States.
— Reduce the standard period short-term visitors are permitted to stay to 30 days (down from 180 days) unless the traveler provides documentation or other justification for a longer stay.
— Direct that no unaccompanied minors be turned over to relatives who are illegally in the United States unless the relatives surrender themselves for processing and initiation of immigration court proceedings.
— Cease issuing “exemptions” (waivers) to known terrorists and supporters of terrorism, individually or by group, that permit them to enter the United States as immigrants, asylees, or refugees.
— Eliminate the current provision that disregards the wages of illegal aliens in the household in order to determine eligibility for food stamps, leading to families that include illegal aliens often getting more in food stamps than comparable citizen or legal-resident families.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
