Conservatives look at ending birthright citizenship for immigrants
It's been a cornerstone of American law since shortly after the Civil War: Children born in the United States become citizens, even if their parents are here illegally.
Now some conservatives are taking aim at that birthright.
They call the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants "anchor babies" because at age 18 the children can apply to bring other family members here from abroad, and a growing group of House Republicans wants to change the policy. They hope to add a provision to the immigration bill that the House of Representatives will consider next week that would deny citizenship to those children.
This is a good step. People come to this country and have children for the sole purpose of getting a foot in the door. Children shouldn't be used like that.
11 comments:
I have a suggestion:
Honor their citizenship, but deny their relative's entry.
He can either find a US citizen to be his legal guardian, or enter the US himself when he turns 18 years old.
Off-topic: Atkinson for Governor looks to me very much like the actor Nicholas Cage.
If anti-Illegal folks are racist then how is it they have so many Hispanic members?
"You will not find a more pro-immigrant bunch that the people who post here."
Tony -- If this is the case, then why do those who post here so vociferously opppose reforming immigration law to allow for legal labor migration to flow more smoothly and keep up with labor demand? The bunch here seems more hell-bent on damning the illegal status of those here currently than of proactive reform of a policy that is out of sorts with economic realities. They're cutting in line because the line's so damn long. Need to create more check-stands, so to speak.
In reply to Quantum Reflections.. "We're all immigrants"??? I'm not an immigrant, my parents are not immigrants, or my grandparents...etc., etc. I hate it when liberals throw this out. It's never true. We're a nation of immigrants... maybe, to some degree. Most people living here are actually born here, and thus not an immigrant. It's really simple stupid.
Also, in regards to your comment about "Not enough America to go around" is quite true. There isn't enough to go around. We're a nation of 300 million people now, and most of our population growth is due directly to immigration. At the rate we're going with this mass immigration, both legal and illegal, we will soon be overpopulated like China and India. Do we really want this future for our grandchildren?
Jim,
"why do those who post here so vociferously opppose reforming immigration law to allow for legal labor migration to flow more smoothly and keep up with labor demand?"
According to the New York Times, 95% of illegals from Mexico left their jobs in Mexico to come here. They are taking over, particularly in the eastern USA, construction and other trade jobs, and sending some $17 billion each year back to Mexico, which they identify as their home.
This is entirely different from previous waves of immigration in which people entered our country legally, and in the hope of assimilating into our culture. This group is here for free services and for the opportunity to send dollars back home.
The flow of American dollars into Mexico has now outstripped Mexico's main income-generator: oil. Mexico's main economic engine is now American dollars flowing in from millions of illegal aliens who have no desire to integrate with our country.
"This is entirely different from previous waves of immigration in which people entered our country legally, and in the hope of assimilating into our culture."
Douglas Massey's book Beyond Smoke and Mirrors demonstrates that Jay has no idea what he's talking about. Since the end of the Bracero Program in 1964, the majority of the Mexican labor flow to the United States has been (a) undocumented (b) circular (i.e. temporary) and (c) concentrated in the Southwestern border states.
Since the immigration reform disasters of 1986 and the early 1990s and the stiffening of border enforcement through operations like "blockade" in El Paso (1993) and "gatekeeper" in Tijuana (1994), only item a from above is still true. Now flows are more permanent in nature (i.e. they're staying longer because circular migration is no longer as easy) and they've been dispersed to all fifty states.
"have no desire to integrate with our country."
Jay, this is quite presumptuous of you, and unless you can provide some polling data or research, I'll assume it's a myth given that your other assertions don't stand up to a factual test. There's a book called Legacies: The Story of the Immigrant Second Generation. According to it, the children of Mexican immigrants "assimilate" (in terms of how they identify themselves and English language acquisition) at a rate on par with other immigrant groups. It's a multi-generational process, as it was for immigrants from Europe at the turn of the last century.
HEY Why do you keep quoting ONE Book? Talk about narrow minded.
I could quote from MANY books, Studies, articles, Professor's of economics and more that Illegal Immigration is a HUGE burden.
At least I quote books. Would you rather I just make stuff up? Professor Massey's book just happens to be directly relevent to many of the issues being debated here. I actually cited two books in that last post. Not good enough for you? Does it diminish the point I am making?
Regarding your books, since you could, why don't you?
Now, now, Jim... lets be nice. From what I've read it typically takes 3 generations for immigrants to assimilate, and this includes Hispanics. I can understand why Jay would think as he does. If you actually go outdoors and observe the Hispanic community you'll quickly get the impression that Jay is correct in his assumption. What I think is happening is the third generation Hispanics that have assimilated are simply lost in the massive tidal wave of Hispanic immigrants
With all that said... I believe that it's taking longer than 3 generations for Mexican's to assimilate. I don't have any real documented evidence to support this, just my real life experiences. I would say it's taking more like 5 generations for them to assimilate. The reason being that our current crop of Mexican's appears to be less committed to assimilation by the fact of their refusal to let go of the Spanish language, their culture, and their constant trips back home to Mexico... how will they ever really assimilate. They just simply don't wish to, as Jay alluded to earlier... the current crop of Mexican's are only here for the economic benefits that we have to offer, and have NO desire to become U.S. citizens. This is just my two bits on the matter.
I am an American of Mexican heritage. When my grandparents came to this country, they came here LEGALLY. And once they got here, they assimilated into the culture. They not only learned ENGLISH but made sure their children learned and SPOKE the language of their new home. They became citizens and renounced all ties to their previous country. They worked legally and PAID TAXES.
They would be rolling over in their graves if they knew that today's politically correct mentality is teaching our society today that its OK for people to illegally swarm across the border, refuse to speak English, send their illegally obtained wages back home without paying taxes, and pop out babies across the border just to stake some sort of claim on OUR NATION.
Now, if you call me a "racist" because I am opposed to illegal immigration, I will first punch you in the teeth. Then, I will show you pictures of my Mexican ancestors and tell you to go to hell.
We need to end automatic citizenship for children born of illegals, put up a real wall along the border (including the northern border!), man the borders with armed soldiers, and treat anyone crossing illegally as an enemy agent in war. Any illegals caught here need to be IMMEDIATELY taken to the appropriate border and unceremoniously pushed over. Every taxpayer-funded benefit for illegals must be STOPPED.
And we need to welcome with open arms people willing to come here LEGALLY, learn (and use!) our language, assimilate to OUR culture, and be productive members of our society. Oh wait, we already do that part.
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