Although the Republican National Committee touts the 14th amendment as one of the GOP’s brightest “accomplishments,” many high-profile Republicans are now trying to appeal to their far-right base by calling for repealing parts of it. Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), John Cornyn (TX), Jon Kyl (AZ), John McCain (AZ), Tom Coburn (TX), Mitch McConnell (KY), Chuck Grassley (IA) and Jeff Sessions (AL) all back holding hearings on the issue. Today on NBC’s Meet the Press, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) joined them, saying that “clearly our schools, our hospitals are being overrun by illegal immigrants”:
GREGORY: Do you support efforts to have the 14th amendment amended at this point?
BOEHNER: Well David, I’m not the expert on this issue. I have read these comments here over the past week. There is a problem. To provide an incentive for illegal immigrants to come here so that their children can be U.S. citizens does, in fact, draw more people to our country. I do think that it’s time for us to secure our borders and enforce the law and allow this conversation about the 14th amendment to continue.
GREGORY: Do you have a position on it?
BOEHNER: Listen, I think it’s worth considering. It’s a serious problem that affects our country, and in certain parts of our country, clearly our schools, our hospitals are being overrun by illegal immigrants — a lot of whom came here just so their children could become U.S. citizens. They should do it the legal way.
Watch it: