Illegal Immigration: Birthright Citizenship

The 14th Amendment played a large role in the way we perceive today’s society. Being that the beginning of the 14th Amendment states “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”, the intent of the 14th Amendment is to stop the granting of automatic citizenship of new born babies in the United States. Those babies were born by illegal mothers which deems them to be considered as illegal immigrants. The reason why immigration is bad is due to immigrants taking control of the resources that were meant for Americans to use; such as jobs, free health benefits, education benefits, free housing and much more, thus triggering the start of the 14th Amendment. Aside from immigration, another motive for the 14th Amendment was due to other states violating United States citizens’ rights. In the case

Another controversial assumption made by advocates who want to see a change in birthright citizenship is that unauthorized immigrants and their U.S. born children place a drain on many social resources. When an unauthorized immigrant has a child born in the U.S., that child has access to all the social resources that U.S. children born to legal citizens are entitled to. It is believed that undocumented immigrants do not pay taxes and come to America with the sole intentions of living on welfare. Evidence provided by the Social Security Administration, contends that there are taxes that cannot be matched to workers’ names and social security numbers. This is also known as a “suspense file” and it has grown by twenty billion dollars in recent years. Migrants and undocumented immigrants contribute more in taxes and social contributions than they will ever receive in individual benefits (Van Hook and Fix 2010). Immigrants earn about $240 billion a year, they pay about $90 billion a year in taxes but only use roughly $5 billion in public benefits (Van Hook and Fix 2010). In

The Birthright Citizenship Amendment is one that has caused controversy. Should  a person that is  born in the US, regardless of whether the parents were here temporarily, or illegally be considered an American citizen? The 14th Amendment states “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside”, ( Spalding, 2010). The interpretation of this amendment has caused the controversy.

Jamiel Shaw, Jr. was shot and killed March 2, 2008. His life, at the age of seventeen, was not taken by any ordinary individual, but by an unauthorized immigrant abiding in the United States. This was not his first offense either; he was on his third gun charge the day he murdered Shaw. Instead of being deported right away after his first offense, he was sent right back out onto the streets. Jamiel Shaw, Sr. claims that his “family’s peace and freedom were stolen by an illegal alien from Mexico” and also believes that Congress is “not securing the border” (“Illegal Immigrants and Crime”). Under the Dream Act, this criminal would have been rewarded with legalization. In what way does this illegal migrant deserve citizenship and legal status?

Over a century ago, the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution was implemented to grant citizenship to individuals born within the country. This was the first time that it was defined what it means to be a citizen in the U.S. While the amendment was created to address the citizenship of slaves, it is currently under speculation in regards to granting U.S. citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants (Gans, 2012). While there have been many arguments to place restrictions or eradicate granting children of undocumented immigrants U.S. citizenship, the constitutional right remains the same: if you are born on U.S. land, you are a citizen (Angelo, 2013). This paper argues that the birthright citizenship of U.S. born children of undocumented immigrants should continue to be granted based on the underlying principles of the 14th Amendment and the possible implications of ending birthright citizenship. First, this paper describes birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment, as well as its use in several Supreme Court cases that are significant to this issue. Then, various implications of eradicating birthright citizenship are discussed. Before discussing the possible consequences of eradicating birthright citizenship, it is imperative to discuss the history and principles underlying it.

The success and the approval by the necessary three-quarters of U.S states, the 14th Amendment guaranteed to the newly freed slaves protection and citizenship along with all its privileges. This amendment resolved any pre-Civil War concerns of the African American community’s citizenship by stating that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state in which they reside” (Primary Documents of American History, 2011). This amendment also reinsured that they had the equal rights and privileges of the rest of the citizens, and granted all these citizens the “equal protection of the laws” (Primary Documents of American History, 2011).

The Center for Immigration Studies took a worldwide look in 2010 and found that "only 30 of the world's 194 countries grant automatic citizenship to children born to illegal aliens” (see Fig. 1).

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States”(U.S.const.amend.XIV). As of July 2017, anyone who is born inside the United States or born on U.S. soil is legally a citizen of the U.S. due to this excerpt from section 1 of the fourteenth amendment. However there is not one interpretation of the fourteenth amendment that is unanimously accepted by all. Someone who shares their interpretation of the fourteenth amendment is George F. Will. George Will created an article by the name of “An argument to be made about immigrant babies and citizenship” as the title suggests, his interpretation of how the fourteenth amendment should be affecting our society differs from the way the fourteenth amendment actually does.

The fourteenth amendment states that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and 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 laws"(Constitute). President Abraham Lincoln and John Bingham wrote the amendment to ensure the rights and freedom of African-Americans (Magliocca 2013). Even though Republicans aspire to change the fourteenth amendment, birthright citizenship should not be changed

In 1868, the United States of America's Congress adopted the 14th Amendment to the Constitution stating that, "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

According to the fourteenth amendment website the fourteenth amendment “is currently misinterpreted to give citizenship to children born in the United States of illegal alien parents. These children, via their birthright citizenship, act as anchor babies and can, upon reaching the age of majority, facilitate bringing their extended family into the US in order to obtain citizenship. Although some experts believe that a Constitutional amendment would be necessary to remedy the misinterpretation, many believe that Congressional action would be sufficient and is urgently warranted.” Not until later was it seen “With illegal aliens who are unlawfully in the United States, their native country has a claim of allegiance on the child. Thus, the completeness of their allegiance to the United States is impaired, which therefore precludes automatic citizenship” (Fourteen Amendment). This was basically a warning for immigrants stating they are responsible for their child and they would not become legal just because they were born in the United States and they would both be claimed by their native land. For example, if a woman from Mexico was to come to the United States illegally, at 8 months pregnant, and have her baby they would not just become legal citizens.

The 14th Amendment became law in June of 1866. This new law declared any person born in the Unites States a citizen, with rights undeniable by any state. It is this type of action Douglass desired in Congress and discusses in his article as only the beginning to the

A "Path to citizenship" (sometimes called "amnesty") refers to allowing undocumented immigrants to become citizens via a process that may include additional requirements (such as fees, background checks, or additional waiting times) to the naturalization process for documented immigrants. The term "legalization" refers to a process by which undocumented immigrants would be allowed to remain in the country legally but would not be allowed to become citizens or receive the same rights granted to US citizens.

In addition, the United States is created by a diversity of immigrant cultures. Currently, “approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States” [Debate pg. 592]. Changing or repealing the fourteenth amendment, will leave many U.S citizens, children of immigrants stateless without an origin of birth. For example, Chinese came to the United States to work as

The 14th Amendment states: 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.