Sen. David Vitter is attempting to use a bill intended to fight human trafficking to rob people born in the United States of their Constitutional right to citizenship.
In January, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn introduced “The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015,” a bill intended to “enhance protections and decrease restitution for victims of human trafficking.” The bill instantly garnered support from both Republicans and Democrats and was unanimously passed out of committee and placed on the Senate floor.
Then, Democrats began to look more closely at the language of the bill.
Hidden within the provisions meant to reduce human trafficking were anti-abortion amendments that would expand the Hyde Amendment, which blocks federal dollars from financing abortion.
The Hyde Amendment is typically tacked onto government spending bills and is passed every year — but there is always the opportunity to stop the harmful amendment from passing. The amendments inserted into the new human trafficking bill would make the Hyde Amendment a permanent law and would block taxpayer money and private funds from financing abortions.
Specifically, these restrictions would apply to victims of sex slavery, who are often underage women. It would rob them of their reproductive autonomy, taking away their opportunity to make choices for themselves.
This language was not originally in the bill when it was introduced last year and not included in the list of changes that was distributed. Democrats are claiming this is a “bait-and-switch” by Republicans who are eager to pass abortion restrictions ahead of the 2016 election cycle so that they have strong anti-choice records to run on.
While Democratic senators were blocking the bill from heading to a vote on the floor, Vitter decided the bill was not restrictive enough as is and introduced his own amendment.
Vitter’s amendment would eliminate birthright citizenship, the Constitutional right to American citizenship that is granted to anyone born on U.S. soil. This right became a law through the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to slaves that had previously been considered property. He believes only granting citizenship to babies whose parents are either citizens or legal permanent residents would put an end to “birth tourism.”
“There is a whole industry, an underworld, that is selling so-called birth tourism. This acts as a magnet — a potent, powerful magnet growing in power by the year to lure more and more folks to come across the border in specific cases to have their babies here, 300,000 to 400,000 per year,” Vitter said during his defense of the amendment.
Slate.com dispels the myth of birth tourism Vitter perpetuates, citing a Time Magazine article from 2010 that investigated the misconception. Time found 80 percent of noncitizens who gave birth in 2008 had been living in the U.S. for more than a year.
Vitter is not trying to protect women with this amendment. He’s not trying to protect anyone. He’s trying to build on his anti-immigration platform ahead of November’s gubernatorial election, in which he is rumored to be the frontrunner for the Republican candidacy.
He’s trying to gain the votes of Louisiana citizens by rewriting one of the most important Constitutional amendments in American history.
Democrats are not going to let Vitter’s amendment pass. During a discussion about the anti-human trafficking bill, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid was asked if Democrats would try to introduce an amendment to the bill that would strip all of its anti-abortion language.
Reid told the press he wouldn’t consider amendments to the bill until Republicans removed the language altogether. He also said Democrats would be “happy to debate all the amendments they want … including Vitter’s stupid amendment.”
Vitter responded to this slight by saying that “Harry Reid calling my effort to end birthright citizenship abuse ‘Vitter’s stupid amendment’ is right up there with the highest of compliments, considering the source.”
This man — who would rewrite the Constitution to rob people of their American citizenship, is willing to sabotage an important bill to fight human trafficking in favor of playing politics and revels in being called stupid by one of the highest political officers in the country — has a legitimate chance of being Louisiana’s next governor.
Over the next few months, all of Louisiana should pay close attention to Vitter’s political moves and ask themselves if this is the person they want representing the state.
Hopefully, the answer will be a resounding “no.”
Logan Anderson is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Houston, Texas. You can reach her on Twitter @LoganD_Anderson.