Comments (17)

1. 

   Community Member

   While I actively support promiting the American economy, I sincerely support this idea. As the initiator stated, other countries do not follow this same practice. It seems as though we are gullable for people from other countries to come and have their babies here, especially when most of them come here to have their babies as a way of entry. Furthermore, as soon as their kids get old enough, they send them there, as well as the money they gain from working here. Eventually, we lose the American-born child and all that this country put into their growth and existence, since most immigrants that make this a practice come with little or nothing and rape this country every time.

   2 years ago

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2. 

   Community Member

   I am trying to figure out what this "idea" has with the topic in question...

   2 years ago

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3. 

   Community Member

   I would think this topic is a drain on Medicare, Medicade, Social Security, as well as state and local goverments, agencies, communities, and hospitals. With such an bombardment of illegal folks coming across the boarder so their child can be born here and get benefits as a citizen, we can no longer bear the financial strain on our system. Other countries have changed their laws concerning this issue. We should too.

   2 years ago

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4. 

   Community Member

   The law in question is the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv

   It is not accurate to say that these children born in the U.S. to foreign parents but who acquired U.S. citizenship at birth "compete with American citizens for college scholarships and placements, medical treatment, social security, housing and other options paid by taxpayer dollars;" they ARE American citizens as much as anyone else. There is no gradation of citizenship; one either IS an American, or one is NOT. These children are as much Americans as any other American citizen. A number of special interests groups feel strongly about the 14th Amendment, including the NAACP, so I do not think amending the Constitution again to remove this amendment is realistic.

   2 years ago

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5. 

   Community Member

   I agree with this one. This might be the wrong venue but I think states that have the largest populations of un-documented and illegal alienes should be mandated to double their respective sales taxes in order to adequately capture the cost of all these additional people.

   2 years ago

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6. 

   Community Member

   So a child is born in the USA and you decide you don't want to grant US citizenship to them...

   OK now, where are you going to deport them to? Remember, they would then be stateless.

   Further, you're assuming everyone born to illegal immigrants is a burden on society. What if they added to the tax base and invented an industry that made money for the US?

   I suppose under this law, Bruce Lee would not be a US citizen. I'm sure there are a great many examples, but that's the first one that comes to mind where Jus Soli benefitted the entire country when one individual created an industry around their genius.

   All I’m saying is that removing Jus Soli isn’t as clear a benefit as it may seem.

   2 years ago

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7. 

   Community Member

   Basically, if a child is born here, just as with those native to this country, they take the status of the mother. Simply put, if the mother is an American citizen, then the child should be the same. Untimately, the parent(s) are responsible for the welfare of the child, regardless of status. However, in situations where the parent has no intent of becoming an American citizen, then the child should not automatically be considered an American citizen. If the parent(s) is seeking citizenship, then the same process should apply to the baby. Assigning the newborn U.S citizenship should not be an automatic process. Keep in mind, there may a case where the parent does not what U.S. citizenship status. Summarilly, I feel that the status of the newborn should follow the same as it's parent(s).

   2 years ago

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8. 

   Community Member

   Children born to illegal immigrants with special needs are considered American citizens. They are given SSN and are eligible for benefits for the rest of their lives. Why should American citizen be held responsible for providing care for them for the rest of their lives? This is draining our economy.

   The parents of the illegal immigrant’s child that is given citizenship can work using their SSN. There is no issue date for the SSN cards. Therefore, the employer doesn’t know how old the person is applying for the job. How does the employer distinguish who is obtaining the job?

   2 years ago

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9. 

   Community Member

   Re: post two up from this: Actually, no, citizenship is not tied to the citizenship of the Mother. Citizenship based on birth in the U.S is based on whether or not the baby was born subject to U.S. laws. The only exceptions are wehen the parents have diplomatic immunity (i.e. foreign diplomats assigned to the U.S.) because pepople with diplomatic immunity means that one is NOT subject to the local laws -- a person with diplomatic imminuty cannot be prosecuted for crimes under U.S. law (unless the home country waives that person's immunity) and also cannot accrue benefits under the law (such as citizenship for that person's children born in the U.S.) Everybody else in the U.S. - including ilegal immigrants - IS subject to U.S. laws (that's why we can deport them) and therefore accrues the benefits under the law like citizenship by birth for their kids born in the U.S. as well as being subject to punishments manadated by law.

   Re: post just above this: No "Children born to illegal immigrants with special needs" are NOT "considered American citizens." They ARE American citizens, with the same rights as any other American special needs kids. Moreover, if you are concerned about the security of SSN's, the solution is tightening anti-fraud porcedures for SSN's; this has nothing to do with citizenship by birth.

   2 years ago

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10. 

    Community Member

    BTW, this citizenship at birth principle is in the Constitution (14th Amendment), not merely a law that can be changed on a whim. It is something our forefathers added in for a reason, and should be respected for that.

    2 years ago

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11. 

    Community Member

    Seriously?? Think long and hard about why the 14th Amendment was added and why it is now obsolete. Sometimes I swear other agencies do not drug test as much as ours does.

    2 years ago

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12. 

    Community Member

    The 14th amendment is not obsolete, and in fact, is still doing the job it was designed to do. It was put in, in part, because some white Americans were not accepting that non-whites (Blacks)could be U.S. Citizens. This is the same reason that some white Americans now want it repealed, so that non-white immigrants (Hispanics) will not be citizens.

    2 years ago

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13. 

    Community Member

    It was put in place to help people who were forced to come here often by being kidnapped. How does the 14th Amendment apply to criminals who come here illigally?

    2 years ago

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14. 

    Community Member

    Actually the better method to consider the situation of the current illegal immigrants is to compare them to the Chinese workers brought over to build railroads in the late 19th century. With the 19th Century Chinese, employers overtly brought them in. With the current undocumented, the employers tacitly and purposefully let it be known they hire illegals, thereby encouraging more to come. If there are criminals here, it is the employers that hire them, not the people looking for jobs. If no one would hire the illegals, they would not be here.

    Another similarity between the 19th century Chinese immigrants and the current illegal immigrants is that after they were here and had served their purpose in doing difficult and low paying jobs, every manner of legal action was taken against them, rather than against the real culprits, the businesses the hire them and that in fact wholly created the situation.

    Since the current problem with illegals is really about economics and crooked, unpatriotic businessmen (not birth rights), the 14th amendment is not even an issue here. It is only an issue for some people that want to disguise their real motives as something patriotic.

    2 years ago

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15. 

    Community Member

    I think you all have it wrong. I know people who were born outside of the U. S. whose parents are American citizens. They have dual citizenship, as well. The U. S. is not the only country that does this. If there parents are in the country legally, say on a VISA, etc. then I am fine with it. I agree that it should be ammended because too many illegals use it as a way to stay in the country.

    2 years ago

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16. 

    Community Member Idea Submitter

    The children who are born to American citizens outside of the U.S. are still American citizens; not children with dual citizenship.

    2 years ago

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17. 

    Community Member

    Actually the citizenship of children born to American citizens overseas is variable. Whether or not a child born to one or more American citzizens overseas (or even in the U.S.) depends partly on the rules of the country of birth and partly on the rules of the country or countires of citizenship of the parents. If the parents are dual nationals or do not hold Amwerican citizenship at all, a child born in the U.S may be born a dual national. If a child is born abroad to a couple who are dual nationals or to one American and one non-American parent, then the child may get citzenship in another country at birth. However, even if both parents are American citizens, if the parents have not satisified the applicable requirements for U.S. residency prior to the birth of the child, it is possible that the child will not be born an American citizen, although the child would be eligible for an immigrant visa and possibly expeditious naturalization if there is a grandparent who has met the residency requirements. The applicable rules for transmission of American citizenship vary depending on whether only one or both parents are American citizens, the year of the child's birth, and whether or not the child was born in wedlock. Some countries forbid their nationals to hold dual citizenship and require them to renounce other citizenships when they come of age; others do not allow their citizens to renounce claims to citizenship no matter what. For more information on this follow this link: http://www.travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html

    2 years ago

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