Born in the USA to illegals: Should citizenship be a birthright?

ADD COMMENTS TO SOURCE ARTICLE.

(photo) Araceli a young mother from Oaxaca, Mexico, who came to Florida in 2002 without documentation, holding her daughter Belen, 1 1/2 years old in their home in a migrant camp Wednesday in Immokalee. Belen was born in Florida and therefore has the right to a U.S. citizenship, her mother lives in constant fear of deportation.
Bill Ingram/The Palm Beach Post

(Photo) Yolanda, (C front row) came to Florida without documentation in 1991, from Guerrero, Mexico, her daughter Jennifer, (L), was born here and therefore is a US citizen, the same is true, of Yolanda's sister Angelica, (top row R) who likewise came from Guerrero in 1997, now her children, Samantha, (green t-shirt front row R), Concepcion, (top row L) and Esly, (top row C) are US citizens.

By John Lantigua Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 6:42 p.m. Sunday, April 11, 2010

Posted: 3:56 p.m. Sunday, April 11, 2010

IMMOKALEE — Alfonso, a Mexican-born undocumented worker here, has never studied, browsed or even seen a copy of the U.S. Constitution. But that document contains the 14th Amendment, which will almost certainly play an enormous role in his life, that of his undocumented, Mexican-born wife and of their three U.S.-born children.

"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," says the 1868 amendment.

In other words, neither Alfonso nor his wife, Angelica, are citizens, but their children are. Strapping Samantha, 9; Concepcion, 8, who favors Miami Hurricanes jerseys; and gap-toothed Esly, 3, all have U.S. passports.

This fact outrages some opponents of these immigration laws and policies .

President Obama has proposed passing an immigration overhaul in his first term, which could lead to legal residence and citizenship for millions of undocumented people in the U.S.

The debate is expected to heat up this week as Congress returns from recess. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., over the weekend promised quick action.

"We need to do this this year," he told a crowd in Las Vegas. "We cannot wait."

The citizenship question is part of the controversy.

The 14th Amendment was adopted soon after the Civil War and countermanded previous law, which had denied slaves of African descent or their offspring U.S. citizenship.

Some immigration activists claim attempts to alter the law are also racially motivated. But proponents of changing the law say it has to do with the rule of law and not rewarding people who enter the country illegally.

"As far as I know, no other Western country gives citizenship to children of illegal aliens," said Dave Caulkett, of Floridians for Immigration Enforcement, who favors changing the law.

John Parsons of Jupiter, a former candidate for the town council there and an opponent of current immigration policies, agrees.

"We are being taken advantage of, and we have been for a long time," he said. "Women are coming here specifically to have babies so that those children can be American citizens. I don't care if the parents come from England, Russia, Mexico or wherever. If the parents aren't here legally, those children should not be U.S. citizens."

Opponents of "birthright citizenship" say polls have shown most Americans agree with them.

But people on the other side disagree, saying it may help serve others' welfare. They say as long workers in fields such as construction, agriculture, landscaping and restaurants are needed, U.S. employers will hire undocumented workers. Those foreign workers have become integral to the economy and in the normal course of their lives, they have children here, immigrant advocates say.

"These kids have never stepped foot in their parents' home countries," said attorney Tania Galloni of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center in Miami. "They are Americans. If you deny these children citizenship here, you will have a large group of stateless people. Is that a smart thing to do? Wouldn't you want the people living within your borders to have allegiance to your country?

"And saying that people come here just to have children doesn't make sense," Galloni said. "It doesn't give the parents any advantage. They can still be deported."

Sometimes those parents are deported and choose to leave their U.S.-born children behind to be cared for by relatives or friends.

Activists who want to end birthright citizenship accuse those undocumented adults of creating "anchor babies." Once the child is born an American citizen, he can later petition for the legalization of other family members.

"And that way we get closer and closer to being a Third World country because our law enforcement agencies just won't enforce our laws," Parsons said.

West Palm Beach immigration attorney Aileen Josephs said she believes the Latin ethnicity of many of the undocumented is what worries many opponents of birthright citizenship.

"There are people who fear the demographic change in our nation," she said. "Instead of embracing Latinos, they have attacked them."

Many defenders of birthright citizenship say it would take a change in the Constitution to alter that practice and that would be unlikely to occur.

But those who oppose the status quo say it could be done through legislation, simply clarifying the language of the amendment.

In 2003, then Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, tried to change the law to deny citizenship to a child both of whose parents were undocumented. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., has more recently introduced such legislation.

The undocumented who work the Immokalee fields find themselves in the middle of a legal battle they know little about. They admit there are great advantages to raising children in the U.S., compared with their home countries. Schools are better in the U.S., they say, and government health programs, including Medicaid, are good for their children.

But they deny that they came to the U.S. with the idea of having kids.

"I have heard that some people come here just to have babies," said Alfonso, the field worker from Mexico, now living in Immokalee. "But those are usually people with money and they fly to a hospital in Houston or wherever. There are people who can plan that sort of thing.

"But they aren't people like us, the majority who come from poverty, who come right from the ranch back home, cross the desert and who come just looking to work," he said.

"We don't have the opportunity to plan. The women get pregnant, but it isn't because someone had a plan to make a United States citizen. I didn't even know the law about that when I came here."

Araceli, 30, originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, and mother of two U.S.-born daughters, agrees.

"I came here eight years ago and I came to improve my life," she said. "I didn't plan to have children here. It was God's will."

John_Lantigua@pbpost.com

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state ... ePage=true