Oppose Rubio's bill

Recently, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida appeared on seven Sunday talk shows to sell his "comprehensive immigration reform" bill. While making a compelling case, he did not talk about the bill's glaring omission, the most important provision of all, birthright citizenship.

The Fourteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution after the Civil War to prevent local authorities from excluding African-American children from obtaining U.S. citizenship. The amendment suggests children born on American soil be granted citizenship, and then cites some exceptions.

Yet Rubio promotes a guest worker program with no changes to the current interpretation of the amendment, so a child born to a guest worker would gain automatic citizenship. Once that happens, the child qualifies for all the benefits any other citizen would be granted (food stamps, welfare, Obamacare).

At that point the entire family becomes permanently anchored on American soil — the genesis of the term "anchor baby." During his seven Sunday interviews, Rubio didn't mention the birthright citizenship, and none of the interviewers did either. It seems conspiratorial; at best it's shoddy journalism. And it's a good reason for the American public to oppose Rubio's bill with all the energy and outrage they can muster.

— Robert Bennett, Grants Pass