I read that the idea behind "Birthright" citizenship was because the Southern states were going to..... you know...keep their ball rolling. The Democrats weren't going to settle the whole issue that neatly....after all, slaves were THEIR property. Unfortunately for them, they lost the idiotic war they started - with other US states. It had nothing to do with letting "anchor babies" become a golden ticket for every Tomas, Ricardo and Horatio in the Third World.