States challenging birthright citizenship
14 States: Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah intend to challenge [i]jus soli[/i] through legislation that emulates Arizona's SB 1070 that passed last year.
Historically, all attempts to revoke birthright citizenship or legislation negating provisions of the Fourteenth Amendment have failed, especially after the landmark [i]United States v. Wong Kim Ark[/i] and [i]Plyer v. Doe[/i] Supreme Court cases that set the precedents that the Fourteenth Amendment could not be limited in its effect by an act of Congress and "the Fourteenth Amendment extends to anyone, citizen or stranger, who is subject to the laws of a State, and reaches into every corner of a State's territory. That a person's initial entry into a State, or into the United States, was unlawful, and that he may for that reason be expelled, cannot negate the simple fact of his presence within the State's territorial perimeter," respectively.
For additional information, the Fourteenth Amendment reads "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Clearly, these states are challenging birthright citizenship on the basis of trying to curb the massive amount of illegal immigrants that are flooding into the country over recent years. Such legislation would target the so called "anchor babies," used to describe the children of illegal immigrants who travel to the United States for the purpose of giving birth to their children to obtain citizenship for them.
So Basil, what do you think of such a proposition to challenge birthright citizenship?
13 Comments • Newest first
[quote=SilentEnd]My parents were extremely poor when they lived in China. They decided to move here to US so that their future children (me and my sister) can have a better life. My parents chose not to have kids yet because: 1) They were poor. 2) They didn't want us to have a bad life. For that, they did whatever job they could do to save up money for the application, journey, all that kind of stuff. In the end, they managed to get here and the first thing they did was to learn English. My parents managed to become citizens and get a nice paying job. Can't the illegals do the same? There are millions in the world trying to immigrate to the US. The fact that these illegals decided to cut in front of them all is a big slap in the face to all those that legally came here or in the process of legally coming here. I remember passing by an rally calling for amnesty. They were all speaking Spanish, waving Mexican flags, and demanding US citizenship. Absolutely brilliant.[/quote]
Ding.
My parents did the same exact thing your parents did.
Except they came here illegally.
Because it's rather difficult to obtain paperwork in Colombia.
Anyway, they arrived, found people to help them settle in, learned the language, found jobs, had my brother and I, and raised us.
Eventually they became citizens.
Now my brother and I are in college, making ma and pa proud.
P.S. The United States has no official language.
Being an "anchor baby" myself, I obviously disagree with all of this.
My parents suffered quite a bit to get to where we are now, and I'm glad to say we're doing pretty well.
I may be personally biased, but that doesn't bother me because I know there are plenty of other individuals that share my perspective.
I am attending a good university, hope to attend law school in the future, and know that I will be a productive member of society.
I also don't think it's wrong for them to be proud of their roots (even though they are United States citizens).
Even I am proud of my Colombian heritage and have applied for a dual-citizenship.
[quote=Alonso]They had many opportunities to get a job in México, gosh they probably had multiple jobs but they are never satisfied with they salary they get, why? because they want their lifes to be easier by doing less work and getting more, is not the fault of the country that people want to jump the border to US, is a decision they made therefore its their fault if they die in the process.[/quote]
You really think $7.25/hr is making people lazy? Keep in mind that they only keep part of that wage, and send the rest back home to help their families.
[quote=LightIIStruck]It's amazing how you think not all people who are against illegal immigration are racist yet you insist that all illegal immigrants are rude, criminals, and degrade the United States as a whole.[/quote]
I never said all illegal immigrants were rude and degrade the United States did I? Nevertheless, they are criminals. Don't tell me that people can illegally immigrate to any country, whether it be some country in Europe or the United States, and not be a criminal. The fact that crossing the border anywhere and entering the country illegally and staying is in fact criminal.
[quote=NapalmDe4th]Once again, most of the government rights are considered fundamental human rights and it isn't illegal immigrants demanding this (they have no voice in government). It's people concerned with the inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants that advocate their rights.
Once again, this isn't the case with the majority of protests. Not sure why you're insisting this is the case.[/quote]
I'm not insisting this is the majority, but I'm pointing out that while there in fact are some, if not many illegal immigrants who are law abiding citizens (except for the illegally entering part) there is a minority that makes the majority look bad. I won't judge the majority based off the actions of the minority, but I'm just pointing out that such a minority does in fact exist (and no, it's not just about demanding human rights)
@Securing the border response:
So, if people from all countries of the world decided to illegally immigrate to the United States to work, we should not deny them entry because they are laborers and want to better their lives? Our system may be broken, but something has to be done about the illegal immigration problem because if unchecked, we will bear the social costs. I have to go now, sorry.
The children couldn't choose where they were born. They should have their citizenship rights.
[quote=LightIIStruck]Elaborate.[/quote]
You don't immigrate to a country illegally, demand your rights, and demand government protection. And you don't call people who are against you racial slurs, insults, and call them racists (while some may be racists, I don't think all people who are against illegal immigration are racist). To sum it up, it's pretty derogatory and rude.
Edit: Maybe the cash registry analogy was flawed. But get the point that regardless of what intentions are behind crossing the border illegally, it is still illegal and a crime. The question is, why should we be rewarding crime? You claim that them illegally immigrating here is not hurting anybody, but I'm pretty sure there IS some displacement of jobs by illegal immigrants. I wouldn't say illegal immigrants have been taking ALL our jobs, since some Americans have demonstrated that they aren't willing to work them, but I'm sure there are Americans who would do such work to feed their families in these times. And whether you like it or not, there ARE indeed social costs associated with illegal immigration. It's not a win-win situation as you think it is.
[quote=NapalmDe4th]Here's a more pertinent question: why are we treated laborers as criminals? Why are families who cannot afford to wait for our broken immigration system penalized and rendered in the same class as thieves and scammers?[/quote]
So you are telling me that if someone has good intentions and wants to better his or her life, he or she can break the law and not be regarded as a criminal? So if I stole money from the cash register in a store because my family was starving and I need the money to feed them, I shouldn't be classified as a criminal because I was only doing what I had to do? Criminal activity shouldn't be rewarded.
[quote=NapalmDe4th]I would hope that we are a nation of [i]rational[/i] laws, and quite frankly, the illegal immigration laws are on the irrational side of things. I also note that the law says that anyone who is born here is automatically a citizen, therefore, if you're arguing on the basis of what the law says, you already lost.[/quote]
The system of immigration (and enforcement) itself is broken. Illegal immigration enforcement isn't necessarily irrational, as each nation has a right to secure its borders. Most countries in fact do have stricter enforcement and laws than the United States. I don't necessarily claim to support the revoking of birthright citizenship, but I can see the intentions behind it because it is clear that many illegal immigrants have their children born in America for citizenship. Some would obviously see this as unfair as it was the byproduct of illegal activity. But children, even if innocent, should not reap benefits of their parents' crimes. Birthright citizenship is a right given by the Constitution, but it does not necessarily mean it is right for people to illegally immigrate here just to give their children citizenship. Illegal immigration has social costs of its own, and cannot be cited as completely beneficial or positive.
[quote=NapalmDe4th]Illegal Immigrants mostly pay for their keep. A report that tracked the effects of illegal immigrants found that only at first they are a deficit to the State, but later become top contributors and usually end up paying for themselves (yes, they pay taxes) or generate surpluses. And that's not taking into account how much they pay into social security (in the billions).[/quote]
Some pay for their keep, some do not pay for their keep. The ones who don't put a strain on our resources. Remember, we cannot feasibly account for millions of people who need to rely on the system.
[quote=NapalmDe4th]I have yet to meet an illegal worker who hates America. Most seem grateful to be here. I also don't see the problem with parading other flags.[/quote]
You should see some of the immigrant demonstrations in California. They're pretty bad.
[quote=demunpuncher]I see a couple things wrong here:
1.) It doesn't even seem like you know what a racist is.
2.) We [b]don't[/b] need illegal immigrants, just give the jobs to homeless people.[/quote]
The timeless argument for point 2 is that Americans are too lazy or too prideful to do the work that illegal immigrants do. Some statistics have "shown" this, but in such economic times, maybe things are different. Perhaps it's just the individual.
Since when do states get to decide who is an American citizen and who isn't? It doesn't mater tho, the US Constitution take precedence over state law anyway.
[quote=NapalmDe4th]Don't see the basis. The argument is that such individuals are outside of the jurisdiction of the U.S. is ludicrous, or else the U.S. would have no right to incarcerate such individuals or charge them with crimes. I also don't see why we need to get rid of "anchor" babies. Quite a number of them have gone to top universities and can become productive members of society. Deporting them will only send them to poverty, depriving them of an opportunity to make something of themselves and that will, ironically, lead to more illegal immigration.
@ Above:
If by "right" you mean what is morally right and wrong as determined by the law, I can't disagree there. However, I don't see what's morally wrong about crossing an imaginary line with the intent of being a productive worker.[/quote]
One thing about illegal immigration is that illegal behavior should not be rewarded. We are a nation of laws. Additionally, we cannot economically support such massive amounts of illegal immigration. Some come here and assimilate and genuinely respect the United States and its laws and culture, but you will be surprised at many of parade around their countries flags and curse America as a whole.
@above: True, there are racist motives behind some who harbor anti-illegal immigrant sentiment, but it is inaccurate the classify the whole as racist.
[quote=LightIIStruck]Oh you mean the states full of redne- err, bigots?
I'm not surprised to be honest.[/quote]
That's a pretty stereotypical statement there. Also, how is the law bigoted? It may be unconstitutional (that is for the courts to rule), but I don't see it as racist in itself.
[quote=Pastafarian]It's bad.[/quote]
Can you explain why it is bad? It's kind of vague that you make a statement without providing an explanation.
It's bad.