At a recent Panamerican Congress in Mexico City, Democratic Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois stood before attendees and declared in Spanish, “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.” Ramirez, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, helps shape policies vital to the nation’s safety. Yet she openly and proudly identifies with another country — and in a foreign language, no less. Ramirez isn’t alone. She’s part of a growing class of politicians who treat their American citizenship as a formality. Many are first-generation immigrants. Ramirez isn’t even that. She was born to an illegal immigrant mother who crossed the border while pregnant and secured birthright citizenship for her daughter. On paper, Ramirez is American. In every other way, she is not.

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