U.S. immigration authorities have taken into custody the illegal alien parents of two American-born siblings tied to an alleged attempted bombing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
According to Western Journal, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Chinese nationals Qiu Qin Zou and Jia Zhang Zheng after their children, Alen and Ann Mary Zheng, were implicated in a plot targeting the bases Visitors Center. The Department of Homeland Security stated in an April 3 news release that Alen Zheng allegedly placed an improvised explosive device at the MacDill facility, while his sister allegedly assisted his avoidance of justice following the incident.
The Zhengs entered the United States illegally from China and later sought asylum in 1993, a request that was ultimately rejected by immigration authorities. Despite an immigration judge ordering their removal in 1998, they remained in the country for roughly three decades, during which time their children were born on American soil and treated as U.S. citizens.
Federal officials now point to this case as a stark example of the dangers posed by the current interpretation of birthright citizenship, which automatically confers citizenship on nearly all children born within U.S. borders. Automatically granting citizenship to children of illegal aliens born in the U.S. is based on a historically inaccurate interpretation of the Citizenship Clause and poses a major national security risk, Acting Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
That reality became apparent last week when two U.S.-born children of Chinese illegal aliens were indicted for planting a potentially deadly explosive device outside MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, she added, directly tying the alleged plot to broader immigration and constitutional concerns. This incident underscores the severe national security threat that illegal immigration and birth right citizenship pose to the United States.
Law enforcement officials report that Ann Mary Zheng is now in federal custody after being apprehended upon her return to the United States from China. Her brother, however, is believed to be residing in communist China, raising additional concerns about foreign influence, flight from justice, and the ability of U.S. authorities to secure his return.
The Department of Homeland Security has explicitly linked the MacDill case to the ongoing national debate over the Fourteenth Amendment and so?called birthright citizenship, an issue that recently surfaced in oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The attempted attack illustrates why the improper recognition of birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens is not only inconsistent with the Constitution, but endangers all Americans, the agency asserted, echoing long-standing conservative constitutional critiques.
Some legal scholars and activists insist that the Fourteenth Amendment grants citizenship to virtually anyone born on American soil, regardless of whether their parents are citizens, lawful residents, or illegal aliens. Others, including many conservatives, argue that the amendment was intended in its original context to secure citizenship for the children of emancipated slaves, not to create an incentive structure that rewards illegal entry and exposes the nation to heightened security risks, as this case so chillingly illustrates under President Trumps second administration.
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