Should automatic citizenship for babies born to all non-citizen residents be stopped?

John himself

Stop it now. The illegals are taking advantage of something that was not meant to be used this way.

drixnot2

yup, the 14th amendment was not intended to make the children of illegals citizens of our country. It was written to grant citizenship to the freed slaves.

Maindrian Pace

yes it should stopped !!

illegals r felons

It needs to be stopped immediately !

Lady Shondra

i think the 14th should be amended to cover those who are born in the USA to parents where at least one is a legal citizen. that would stop many from racing here to give birth so they can attach themselves to the children, they are called anchor babies for that reason. the parents anchor themselves to it and claim they should be given special consideration. i saw a poster state he was an EM near the border and it was a race several time to deport them or deliver the child. it is a big loophole that should be closed.IMO

PS. i have five grand children born overseas and they are not considered automatice citizens of those counties. only in America could this happen.

Dan W

YES, YES AND YES. The government has a form for every single thing you can think of except for making a baby an automatic U.S. citizen if born on U.S. soil. If we add enough bureacuracy to this deal, it'll stop.

If the parents are illegally in the U.S., then the baby should be a citizen of whatever country the parents are citizens of. END OF DISCUSSION.

LeAnne

Absolutely.
This law in and of itself is an anchor law - it made sense immediately following the Civil War, but this is 2007 - and the law is presently being exploited by any illegal who is able to swim, sneak or otherwise illegally get onto US soil to give birth to a legal US citizen - thus pretty much eliminating the possibility of their deportation.
And, thanks to The Federal Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act - it's all FREE for the taking.

nora22000

These so-called 'anchor babies' are pawns created by the parents to force a way to gain citizenship for themselves.

I think that children born to illegal immigrants should be sponsored for citizenship by the employers of their parents, or all should be deported and the employers prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Spreads Love Like Violenceâ„¢

yes. My aunt is a midwife, and she says she gives birth to over 30 babies a month, with mexican illegals doing that.

moonraze2000

yes, we can barely afford our own social sevices for our citizens, welfare, hud, food stamps, medicaid and free education. their babies and them burden us taxpayers and most intentionally have kids to stay here.

tau

duh!

bailie28

yes it should be stopped...you cant deport american citizens and i dont know about the rest of you but if we deport their parents im not taking their kids in...my daughter was born in another country but she is a citizen of this country because i am..and her father is...but she is a citizen of that country as well by birth...will she ever go there again more than likely not and i can tell you when we came back to the states she came with us.....doesnt matter i think if they are illegal or visiting they go back to the country they came from..there are no free rides and everyone not an american citizen needs to get off the bus

Cashndc

Truthfully just because your visiting here and end up having a baby that should not grant the Baby nor the parent citizenship in the United States. It's pretty much getting very out of hand, and it appears most cross the border illegally and set forth to have a child so they can stay! Best answer is send them packing once clean bill of health for delivery!

I think a Permanent Resident should be able to get their child U.S. citizenship but other than that NO unless one parent is a U.S. citizen.

Illegal or tourist HELL no! They get NOTHING!

R G

Birthright citizenship is a myth. The 14th amendment was never ever intended to grant birthright citizenship.
Ever since the subject of Congress taking up Birthright Citizenship have we seen the power of ignorance at work through the media. It is difficult to find any editorial or wire story that correctly gives the reader an honest and accurate historical account of the Fourteenth Amendment in regards to children born to foreign parents within the United States. Most often the media presents a fabled and inaccurate account of just what the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment means.

Recent story lines go something like this: "Currently the Constitution says that a person born in this country is an American citizen. That's it. No caveats." The problem with these sort of statements other than being plainly false is that it reinforces a falsehood that has become viewed as a almost certain fact through such false assertions over time.

Sen. Jacob Howard, who wrote the Fourteenth's Citizenship Clause introduced the clause to the US Senate as follows:

"This amendment which I have offered is simply declaratory of what I regard as the law of the land already, that every person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States. This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are FOREIGNERS, ALIENS, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons. "

This statement can be found in the proceedings of the 39th Congress, May 30, 1866 as recorded in the Congressional Globe, page 2890
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?col...
If you read the ensuing debates, it is clear that it was not the intent of the 39th Congress to pass out US citizenship like some cheap carnival prize and that there was considerable discussion as to whether the clause "subject to the jurisdiction of" was strong enough.
So then, what exactly did subject to the jurisdiction mean? Sen. Lyman Trumbull, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, framer of the Thirteenth Amendment told us in clear language what the phrase means under the Fourteenth:

The provision is, that 'all persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens.' That means 'subject to the complete jurisdiction thereof.' What do we mean by 'complete jurisdiction thereof?' Not owing allegiance to anybody else. That is what it means.

Sen. Howard left no doubt what the clause meant in 1868: "The Constitution as now amended, FOREVER withholds the right of citizenship in the case of accidental birth of a child belonging to FOREIGN parents within the limits of the country."

In short all we need to do is interpret the 14th amendment the way the authors intended. The 39th Congress made it very clear as to what made a citizen. There would have been no debate about the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction of" if their intent was to grant citizenship to everyone as currently interpreted. They would simply have wrote "All persons born in the US are citizens" period.

If pro immigration groups or individuals want to continue in believing the Fourteenth Amendment grants citizenship to anyone born in the country regardless of their allegiance, fine -- but to continue to insist the Fourteenth Amendment supports their fable is both feeble and a disrespect to American history.

jobgonetocheaplabor

No an illegal immigrants child born in the USA should not be allowed to become a citizen of the USA .

The cost in welfare benefits and medical care are costing the American taxpayer enormously .
Americans can no longer afford health insurance and go without it . Illegals and their anchor babies will have free medical care while the legal American will have to pay.

Legal Americans are losing their jobs and homes while illegals are being employed under the table or with false Id's.

What's up with this picture??????????????

Is the USA government selling out the lively hood of their own working class citizens????????????

Illegal immigration and lack of border security are a very serious problem for the USA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SilverPhoenix

Yes.

johnny cee

If the mother is in the country legally, citizenship.
If the mother is in the country illegally then other factors must
be considered before deciding one way or the other.
For example if the Father is a citizen, then I think the baby should be a citizen too.
It depends.
I Cr 13;8a

brucec83

Doesn't matter what we think. What does the Supreme Court think?

In 1898 a child born in the US to persons of Chinese citizenship. He worked in the US but visited China and when he tried to re-enter the country in 1895, he was arrested under the Chinese Exclusion Act.

The Supreme Court held that he was a US citizen at birth under the 14th Amendment, unless his parents were foreign diplomats. Period.

End of Story.

NONAME

Hell yeah

Jennifer K

YES YES YES YES ITS TO BAD IT CANT BE STOPPED
THEY DO THIS TO STAY HERE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE!!!!!

vo_dn

some people dont have it all like you do. if they have to go as far as making babies to stay in america, it means they're desperate for a beter life... listen to god, love those who are less fortunate than you are, give them a chance

TheOldOkie

I think the babies should be American citizens; but, the parents should be prepared to make the tough choices if they are sent home. It isn't fair to the child; but, that's what I think should happen.

jackie

No. The 14th Amendment says that everyone born here is an American. You can't pick and choose what part of the Constitution you don't like to suit your political views.

Some are against the right to bear guns....should we repeal that part of the Constitution too?

Love Canada

And what country would they belong to??