Born in the U.S.A. Becomes Center of Debate on Illegal Immigrant Children
By Greg Stohr - Sep 12, 2010 9:01 PM PT

For more than a century, the rules governing U.S. citizenship have included a straightforward test: With rare exception, a person born within the country’s borders is an American citizen.

That tenet is now under attack as part of the fight over illegal immigration. What had been a simmering academic debate has moved in recent weeks into the political arena, with Republicans in Congress questioning whether the children of illegal aliens should be afforded citizenship and state lawmakers preparing to force the issue into the courts.

“You can’t break into somebody’s country and think you have the right to citizenship because you were born here,â€