The Arizona Senate has rejected five bills that would restrict the movements of illegal immigrants in the U.S., as well as one that would end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants even if they were born in the U.S.
The package of birthright citizenship bills would have defined children as citizens only if one parent was a citizen, or had permanent legal status.
In February, the Arizona Senate Appropriations Committee passed the bills, though they had not yet been brought up in the House.
A number of other states have been considering similar birthright citizenship bills, in the hopes that eventually the Supreme Court will consider revising the current interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to any child born in the United States. And lawmakers like Rep. Steve King (R-IA) are looking to do something similar at the national level.
But apparently Arizona won’t be leading that particular charge, despite its recent reputation for being the axis of immigration controversy, after it enacted a law last year that requires law enforcement officials to demand immigration papers from anyone they have a “reasonable suspicion” is in the country illegally.
As for the other four bills, Alia Beard Rau of the Arizona Republic reports:
Those bills would have banned illegal immigrants from state universities, made it a crime for illegal immigrants to drive a vehicle in Arizona, required school districts to check the legal status of students, and required hospitals to check the legal status of patients.
The Republic notes that “Republicans split over the measures and Democrats opposed.”
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