Bill Stock, a nationally recognized immigration lawyer, and Ken Klukowski, a legal analyst and policy consultant who specializes in the U.S. constitution, will discuss the citizenship clause in the 14th Amendment.
Stock will argue that the accepted interpretation of the citizenship clause — that those born in the United States are U.S. citizens — should prevail. Klukowski will argue that the clause never was meant to confer the citizenship of children born in the United States to illegal immigrants.
The debate is being sponsored by the Rutgers School of Law–Camden’s Immigration Law Society and various other law student groups.
“Illegal immigration has become an increasingly hot topic in today’s political climate, and for similar reasons, birthright citizenship has come under increasing criticism,” says Elliott Almanza, a second-year law student and vice president of the Immigration Law Society at Rutgers–Camden.
“The 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause has traditionally been understood to confer citizenship based on simply being born on American soil, regardless of the status of the parents,” says Almanza, a Linwood resident. “However, the advent of phrases such as “anchor baby” and “birth tourism” indicates that Americans are increasingly concerned about the social and economic ramifications of unfettered birthright citizenship.”
Stock has practiced immigration law exclusively since 1993. A founding member of Philadelphia-based law firm Klasko, Rulon, Stock, and Seltzer, he has represented families, small businesses, and multinational corporations in immigration matters. Stock currently serves as a director on the Board of Governors for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Klukowski is the director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. He has written briefs on constitutional issues in federal courts across the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and is a lecturer at law schools across country.
The free event will be held in room 106 in the School of Law Building, located at Fifth and Penn Sts. on the Camden Campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
For more information, contact Elliott Almanza at ealmanza@camden.rutgers.edu.
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E-mail: ejmoor@camden.rutgers.edu