Birthright citizenship

Ned noted the other day that the NYT ran a story with comments from readers on the growing controversy over the impact of the 14th Amendment's 'birthright' clause, which guarantees automatic US citizenship to any child born in this country. To Ned's amazement, a large number of serious commenters favored repeal. Ned understands the reason for the Amendment, arising out of attempts, regrettably successful until relatively recently, to deny basic citizenship rights to black Americans in the South. However, today the US is one of the only countries, if not the only country, that has this anachronism in its governing covenant. Ned has long supported ending birthright citizenship.
On the other hand, Ned has noted with growing concern the tendency to associate the negatives of birthright citizenship entirely to the hispanic community, and Ned finds this wrong, reprehensible, and even contemptible. Ned points out than many groups take advantage of this clause: he lists Irish Europeans, many residents of the Caribbean, Chinese nationals, and Pentecostal Russians to name a few.
Moreover, Ned can sympathize with the feelings of dread that many Mexican citizens must feel, immersed as they are in a war between drug 'lords' and what passes for the agents of 'law and order.'
Finally, many hispanic residents of Central America continue to deal with the murderous former policies of the American government, which for decades sought to undermine legally-elected governments on the preposterous pretext that they were 'supporting communism.' He can well understand why someone would want to get to this country any way they can.
So Ned would conclude that, while he supports elimination of the birthright clause, he sees no need to demonize hispanics in the process, and cautions his friends to be careful of the motives of many of those rabid supporters of repeal.