Should we continue birthright citizenship?

(Two parts, 'yes' and 'no' provided)

Yes: Ending it won't stop illegal immigration

By Tomás R. Jiménez
April 13, 2008


Ending birthright citizenship is a placebo, not a solution to illegal immigration.

The debate over immigration is fundamentally about who we are as a nation,who we are not, and who we want to be.

It is thus no surprise that those most afraid of who we are becoming have moved to re-draw the rules of inclusion by proposing to do away with birthright citizenship. Such a move is not only legally dubious, it is a threat to American prosperity.

Opponents of birthright citizenship assert that we have it wrong when we interpret the 14th Amendment as granting citizenship to anyone born here. They argue for a reinterpretation of the Citizenship Clause: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States...â€