To the editor:

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution was deployed for one reason and one reason only, to stop Southern Democrats from disinheriting the children of freed slaves from the benefits of United States citizenship in the aftermath of the Civil War.

It was categorically never intended that prosperous Chinese nationals or rabble from around the world would be able to set foot on U.S. soil, have a child and then, for that child, to be able to use the 14th amendment to claim U.S. citizenship.

The 14th Amendment matched the time and purpose for which it was intended. In this modern age of mechanized mass movement of diverse and often incompatible populations, it has far exceeded the wildest foreseeable ramifications of its intended purpose and indeed may pose a direct threat to the political, cultural and economic stability of the broad majority of the American people.

Criminal organizations, cynical politicians and foreign governments have proven adept at twisting the 14th Amendment to meet their own nefarious ends.

Gregory Bontrager

Hutchinson