Letters to the Editor

Citizenship has different definitions
June 7, 2008 - 10:20PM
BY: Joan Deutsch - Odessa
Re: The better solution (May 1.


Emily Marquez wants to know " ... if (children born of illegals crossing the border) could not attain citizenship in the country in which they are born, where exactly does their citizenship exist?"


I did some research and discovered that children have natural law rights to citizenship:


>> The "right of blood" - or where their parents are citizens and/or,
>> The "right of land" - or where their parents reside.


My dictionary defines "reside" as "to dwell for a considerable time; make one's home; live."


Different countries can have different interpretations of these. The "right of blood" and/or "the right of land" can be that of the father or the mother or both. It's possible for a child to have a natural "right" to a dual citizenship at the time of birth.


With this information, I'd like to venture a personal opinion to answer Marquez' question.


The illegal who crosses the border does not reside in the United States, so her baby does not have the "right of land." She is visiting the U.S. when her baby is born.


The illegal is not a citizen of the United States, so her baby does not have a "right of blood."


The baby's natural law right of citizenship is in the country where his parents are resident citizens.


This would be true whether the illegal crosses the border to the north or crosses the border to the south.


Joan Deutsch
Odessa

http://www.oaoa.com/articles/citizenshi ... erent.html