LOS ANGELES, CA – Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF, issued the statement below in response to a radical proposal by Republican Sens. David Vitter (La.) and Rand Paul (Ky.) that flies in the face of the Fourteenth Amendment’s grant of citizenship to those born in the United States of America. The constitutional right of citizenship at birth, rooted in the hard-fought American values of fairness and equality, should not be subject to political and discriminatory whims. The Vitter-Paul proposal would strip the long-standing grant of citizenship to all born on U.S. soil, and would limit citizenship to those (1) with a parent who is a U.S. citizen; (2) with a parent who is a lawful permanent resident residing in the U.S. or serving on active-duty in the U.S. Armed Forces; or (3) naturalized under immigration law.
Immigrants’ Rights
ACTION ALERT: THE DREAM ACT – CALL KEY SENATORS BEFORE SATURDAY TO HELP PASS THE DREAM ACT
MALDEF, NDLON, JOSÉ JOSÉ, DOLORES HUERTA AND DREAM ACT STUDENTS ORGANIZED PHONE-BANKING OUTREACH EVENT TO URGE PASSAGE OF DREAM ACT IN SENATE
MALDEF SUPPORTS DOLORES HUERTA, ARIZONA STUDENTS ON ELEVENTH DAY OF FAST IN SUPPORT OF DREAM ACT OUTSIDE SENATOR MCCAIN’S OFFICE
MALDEF Responds to Senate DREAM Act Vote
ACTION ALERT: THE DREAM ACT – CALL CONGRESS TO PASS THE DREAM ACT AND TUNE IN FOR THE VOTE
MALDEF Responds to House Passage of DREAM Act
NOW IS THE TIME TO TURN THE DREAM ACT INTO A REALITY!!
MALDEF’S PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL RESPONDS TO SENATE VOTE ON DREAM ACT
MALDEF Condemns Intimidation of Latinos in Utah
MALDEF President and General Counsel Responds to President’s Address on Immigration Reform
MALDEF Questions Timing and Consequences of Federal Raids Today in Arizona
Immigration Reform Dialogue Resumes Today at Senate Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing
MALDEF Condemns Anti-Immigrant Murders in Florida
WASHINGTON, DC – In the early hours of February 26, Dannie Baker, a 60-year-old Florida resident, left his townhouse armed with a rifle, walked across the complex to a neighboring unit, and opened fire on a quiet gathering of young, unsuspecting Latino residents in Miramar Beach. When the rampage ceased, two individuals were found dead, and three others critically injured. All five victims were Chilean students participating in a foreign exchange program.
Hate Crimes
In July of 2008, 25-year old Luis Ramirez lost his life after he was knocked unconscious and kicked in the head by a group of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania teenagers who yelled racial epithets before and during the brutal beating. In November, 37-year old Marcelo Lucero was ferociously beaten and fatally stabbed in Long Island, New York by a group of teenagers who hunted him down simply for being Latino. Only a month later, we mourned the murder in Brooklyn, New York of Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhañay, whose life was violently taken by a group of people, and whose crime, according to witnesses, was motivated by hate-filled bigotry.