Thread: Birthright Citizenship - Beyond Borders Blog Opinions

http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0, ... 07,00.html
Saturday, August 13, 2005 - 4:37:29 PM

Birthright citizenship breeds loyalty

By Conor Friedersdorf
Staff Writer

Should the children of illegal immigrants, born on United States soil, be granted American citizenship?
The Beyond Borders Blog took up that question this week after Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) suggested that those children ought to be considered illegal immigrants, just like their parents.

Admittedly, that would eliminate the dangerous incentive for foreign women to sneak across our border while pregnant. But it would also result in hundreds of thousands of children who, upon reaching adolescence and adulthood, live within the United States as illegal immigrants rather than full citizens. These children will exist outside the law, outside our democratic system, and will face deportation from the only country they have ever known or lived in. Meanwhile, they will have a significantly diminished stake in the country's future and diminished loyalty to America and its values.

The longer we live with a large population of illegal immigrants in our midst, the more grave the threat we face from an unassimilated population that understandably lacks full loyalty to America.

Unfortunately, it isn't easy to solve this problem for the illegal immigrants here right now. Deporting them is politically impossible. Slowly making their lives more difficult may cause some to leave, but will hasten the disaffection felt by others. Granting amnesty will reward breaking our laws and encourage future illegal immigration. There is no option without significant costs.

Thankfully, we don't face that dilemma when it comes to the children of illegal immigrants who are born on American soil. If we eliminate citizenship by birthright, however, that will change. Looking ahead, I'd rather have hundreds of thousands of loyal, assimilated Americans in our midst.

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Californians aren't the only ones worried about immigration, as numerous items this week attest. Stories I linked -- from illegal immigrants arrested for trespassing in New Hampshire to a backlash against immigrants on Long Island to Utah swearing in its first-ever immigration judge -- demonstrate that the topic has emerged as a national issue as it never has for this generation of Americans.

Locally, that played out at an anti-illegal immigration forum in Carlsbad on Thursday. Beyond Borders Blog covered the protests outside, our ears ringing as we listened to open borders advocates and anti-illegal immigration protesters shouting at one another through scores of police officers. Unfortunately, we reported, both sides assumed suspect motives drove their opponents' activism, making any productive discourse on immigration impossible.

* * *
Readers helped debate numerous facets of immigration policy this week, particularly the question of whether the United States should treat prospective immigrants the same no matter their country of origin, or favor immigrants from some countries while discouraging immigrants from others.

Reader Keith Harris suggested the following: "Both our history and our social structure necessitate that citizenship be granted based solely on an applicant's allegiance to our core beliefs. An applicant's country of origin cannot be at issue in this process, if we are to remain true to our original ideal."

Our gut tells us to agree, yet we're torn. As a thought experiment, we posted several scenarios in which we might want to discriminate on the basis of national origin. For example, imagine a foreign nation began a large-scale program to send immigrants to our country as spies. If we couldn't reliably distinguish between spies and non-spies from that country, might we legitimately decide to limit the immigration of their citizens entirely?

We'll discuss this issue further on the blog, and we'd love to hear your thoughts.
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Of course, these are just a fraction of the items we've posted this week. There's lots more news, analysis and opinion updated several times daily, so log onto www.beyondbordersblog.com , and send us tips, feedback, suggestions or opinions at conor.friedersdorf@dailybulletin.com .


Question of the Week: What should be done about the more than 10 million illegal immigrants living in the United States?

"Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) suggested that those children ought to be considered illegal immigrants, just like their parents. "

This is how I feel as well.

I love Tom Tancredo! He is the voice of reason surrounded by lunatics. Children born here to illegals should be considered illegal as well. This is a hugh loophole that needs to be closed.

Hi, butterbean and all. I heard Tom Tancredo say that the other day and I applauded him!