“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” – The Constitution of the United States, Amendment XIV, Section 1.

Recently, the notion of “birth tourism” and “anchor babies” has turned the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment into a hot topic for high-ranking members of the GOP, for all the wrong reasons.

Senior members of the Republican Party, including U.S. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Former Presidential Candidate and Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., and Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have all voiced concern about reports illegal immigrants are, allegedly, migrating to the United States and having children in order to expedite the citizenship process.

The problem, they say, lies not with illegal immigration policy, but with the 14th Amendment itself. Senator Graham recently told Fox News he was considering proposing a constitutional amendment in an attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, while McConnell and Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., have called for congressional hearings on the matter.

Even special interest groups flat-out opposed to birthright citizenship draw the line at revising the 14th. Rosemary Jenks, director of governmental relations for NumbersUSA, has dismissed the recent rabble-rousing as nothing more than a political ploy, suggesting discourse and overhauling the immigration system should suffice.

Those of us on the editorial board don’t share a consensus in regard to how we should deal with illegal immigration. Some of us support the measures limiting the number of immigrants per year, and the expansion of the Mexican border fence, while others think the recent influx of Hispanic immigrants is a direct result of our “war on drugs” and sympathize with those fleeing their country due to the violence.

However, what we all agree on is the problem is not with the 14th Amendment, but with immigration policy and enforcement. We’re glad the process of altering the constitution is a stringent and laborious one, because it’s the process that ensures whimsical political notions and arbitrary election-year issues don’t beget permanent alterations to the legal precedents of American society.

The list of Supreme Court cases involving the 14th is so expansive it’s broken down into categories such as citizenship, due process and equal protection.

The decisions of Dred Scott v. Sandford, Roe v. Wade, Miranda v. Arizona, Brown v. Board of Education, all directly cite the 14th. We sincerely hope those ring a few bells.

The notion of birthright citizenship works for a very simple, very good reason: it’s not an arbitrary criterion. It’s one of the few guaranteed rights in this country that race, religious values, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status have absolutely nothing to do with, and it needs to stay that way.

There may be social issues members of the GOP love to harangue during stump speeches, but the notion that the Constitution is something that can be blindly amended to appease the conservative populous is foolhardy at best.

The irony of it all is that it was the Republicans who championed the Reconstruction Amendments — including the 14th — and passed them through both houses of congress without a single vote from the Democratic Party. Flip-flop, anyone?

As for birth tourism, while it does happen, nobody has come up with a number beyond “a few thousand.” In fact, experts suggest amending the parameters of birthright citizenship would only add to the number of undocumented immigrants living in the country. When a child is born to immigrant parents, regardless of their legal standing, that child is automatically a full-fledged citizen. However, their parents aren’t; that anchor baby can’t apply for parental visas until they turn 21, and that’s if, and only if, they’re making 125 percent of the poverty level.

We guess the GOP must have forgotten to mention that part, kind of like how they forgot the 14th was their idea in the first place. Imagine that.