The Fourteenth Amendment was created with the purpose of granting freed slaves American citizenship as their birthright. It states as follows:
"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."
The same people who would cite the amendment as their smoking gun evidence that children born to illeal aliens deserve citizenship often avoid the portion I highlighted above, "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." The intention of this passage was to exclude children of foreign diplomats, foreign criminals in U.S. custody, Prisoners of War, etc. from being granted birthright citizenship. Unfortunately, like many of the amendments, the lack of specificity allows for convenient "interpretation", often based on ideology.
I would argue that the exclusion of such groups listed above is not complicated: Birthright Citizenship, as stated in the constitution, would also exempt children of illegal aliens from benefiting from this law. Simply put, if the parents aren't citizens, the kids aren't citizens either. By allowing such "anchor babies", we simply encourage law-breakers to continue to break the law. In a sense, rewarding criminal activity.
Is it not time for a real conversation about birthright citizenship, an adult one which doesn't start with "You're just a racist."? It's not racism, it's realism. America cannot afford to continue to import poverty while in a financial and social crisis of our own.
"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."
The same people who would cite the amendment as their smoking gun evidence that children born to illeal aliens deserve citizenship often avoid the portion I highlighted above, "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." The intention of this passage was to exclude children of foreign diplomats, foreign criminals in U.S. custody, Prisoners of War, etc. from being granted birthright citizenship. Unfortunately, like many of the amendments, the lack of specificity allows for convenient "interpretation", often based on ideology.
I would argue that the exclusion of such groups listed above is not complicated: Birthright Citizenship, as stated in the constitution, would also exempt children of illegal aliens from benefiting from this law. Simply put, if the parents aren't citizens, the kids aren't citizens either. By allowing such "anchor babies", we simply encourage law-breakers to continue to break the law. In a sense, rewarding criminal activity.
Is it not time for a real conversation about birthright citizenship, an adult one which doesn't start with "You're just a racist."? It's not racism, it's realism. America cannot afford to continue to import poverty while in a financial and social crisis of our own.
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