This awful bill shows how Ted Cruz threatens the citizenship rights of all Americans
After his third-place finish in New Hampshire, GOP presidential contender Ted Cruz is trying to reinvent himself as a civil libertarian in a bid for Sen. Rand Paul’s supporters. Paul’s supporters should be very wary. If Cruz’s extreme anti-gay and anti-immigration tirades don’t give them pause already, the Expatriate Terrorist Act, Cruz’s unconstitutional brainchild, which Sen. Paul refuses to support, certainly should.The bill’s alleged purpose, as per the Texas senator’s explanation during the New Hampshire GOP presidential debate, is to stop Americans who’ve joined ISIS from returning home to “wage jihad against America.” That adds up to all of 12 Americans give or take. In exchange, however, the bill would expose 300 million U.S. citizens — both naturalized and natural born, both at home and abroad — to the threat of losing their citizenship.Cruz first introduced this monstrosity in the Senate in 2014, only to have it shot down. But since the San Bernardino attacks, he has renewed his efforts to push it through the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which he sits, and bring it for a floor vote. Meanwhile, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has introduced a companion bill in the House. And given that Republicans now control both chambers, absent a filibuster, this awful legislation could well pass Congress and reach the president’s desk.Why is it so awful?To understand that, consider some background on what the government currently can and can’t do: As per the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, citizenship is a right, not a privilege. As Justice Byron White explained in the 1980 Vance vs. Terraza ruling, “Expatriation depends on the will of the citizen rather than on the will of Congress and its assessment of his conduct.”
Source: This awful bill shows how Ted Cruz threatens the citizenship rights of all Americans
