Tancredo's "Preserving our National Identity"

It looks like the Repubs are going to make immigration the soft bigotry issue of the 2006 elections.

Washington - It's been a cornerstone of American law since shortly after the Civil War: Children born in the United States become citizens, even if their parents are here illegally.

Now some conservatives - including U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado - are taking aim at that birthright.

They call the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants "anchor babies" because at age 18 the children can apply to bring other family members here from abroad.....

"It cheapens the whole concept of citizenship," said Tancredo, R-Littleton. "People are coming here simply for the purpose of having a child here and then, because they're the anchor, they can have all the family come in on that child's ticket. ... There are thousands upon thousands of people who are doing it," he said.

He cited "surprising" momentum behind the plan. A House bill to make the policy change has 77 co-sponsors....(all republican?)

...the measure is unlikely to become law, and would face a constitutional challenge in court if it did.

But it promises to make the debate over illegal immigration even more divisive and could reverberate in next year's midterm elections.

Overturning the 14th amendment seems to be no big deal to Tancredo. Again, to see how far out Tancredo is on this, don't miss Kevin Drum's entry on "Preserving our National Identity."