Are not children who are born in this country automatically US citizens?

[BushOut06]

In all the debating over the immigration bill, I've rarely seen this brought up. There are millions of immigrants who have crossed into this country without documentation who have gone on to have children. According to our laws, these children are now US citizens. So what are we to do with their parents? Lock them up? Send them back home? Take their children away? Deprive them of the ability to earn a living to raise their family? Deny them education, health care, and other basic human rights?

This isn't a simple fix, and no amount of political posturing is going to change the fact that we have millions of children in this country whose parents are here "illegally". Yet these same children are US citizens. The sooner we start acting like a global community, and stop this selfish nationalistic bullshit, we'll be much better off. Like it or not, we're all connected now. Deal with the reality as it is now. Instead of trying to enforce antiquated laws that are basically unenforceable, let's change the laws to reflect what our society.

[Selatius]

1. Let them stay. When the children grow up, they can sponsor their parents who came illegally.

It's a damn sight better than ripping the family apart and deporting the parents across the border.

In general, I would say we could've avoided this if after the 1986 amnesty was enacted, Congress and the White House ensured that there is adequate enforcement at the borders and coastlines and airports.

Of course, that never happened, so now we're proposing another amnesty. I have a hunch in 2027 we're going to do the same thing over with amnesty.

[BlackHawk706867]

2. The first act of "Acting like a Global Community" would be to fix the borders...

So that millions more illegals are not free to enter... Then you can talk about what to do with those that are here illegally.... One other thing though, if I were a legal immigrant... I would be so pissed at the illegals... This of course is just one persons opinion.

ww

[BushOut06]

3. Personally, I'm in favor of open borders

This is the way our country operated for much of its history. Instead of building fences and walls along the border, we should have a series of 'Welcome' stations. I have no problem documenting people as they come into the country - but as it is now, we only allow a certain amount of immigrants to do so. This leads to the problem we have with people sneaking in illegally, and not knowing who the hell they are. If they could come across without fear of deportation, register, get some information, and become productive members of society, it would be so much better for everyone involved. They'd be here legally, we would know who they are.

[Warpy]

4. If we raise the minimum wage to a livable standard

and pass laws with real teeth in them against scumbag employers who exploit these people by paying them less than the going rate in cash, then the jobs will dry up as quickly as enforcing the fines and imprisonment now on the books for hiring illegal workers will do.

Once the jobs dry up---and employers will vastly prefer to hire people whose language and culture they understand if they have to pay them properly---the migration will start going the other way.

Cheap labor conservatives don't want anything but open borders and total amnesty and wages so depressed nobody can live on them. That begs the question of where they think their customers are going to come from, but I guess they don't think, do they? All they see is dollars potentially getting away from them if they pay Americans the prevailing wage.

However, even this doesn't address the problem of using foreign labor as a union busting tactic. That's one reason unions had such a miserable and violent struggle in this country, the importation of waves of immigrants to act as scab labor and drive wages down as they destroyed attempts to unionize. Only if this practice is outlawed---with serious teeth in it--can simply raising the wage and stopping exploitation hope to work for us all with open borders.

[Critters2]

5. Right on all counts!! nt

[Kingshakabobo]

6. The thugs are trying to re-interpret the constitution.......

.........to say that the kids aren't technically citizens because they don't meet this test in the 14th amendment: "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof."

They are trying to say they weren't subject to our jurisdiction because they come from illegal parents.

Remember,they make their own reality.....AND they have the supreme court to do their bidding.

>>>>>

Section 1. 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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

[dflprincess]

8. Though, strangely, this amendment did not include American Indians

who did not get citizenship until 1924:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jun02.html

On June 2, 1924, Congress enacted the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. The right to vote, however, was governed by state law; until 1957, some states barred Native Americans from voting.

[Solo_in_MD]

7. Indeed they are, and we are one of the few nations that does that

[alarimer]

9. I think that is one of the best things about this country

You are born here, you are a citizen. End of discussion. And it is simply cruel to separate families in the name of immigration enforcement. I also do not believe in deporting US citizens to live with their parents in their parents' country. So the issue is one of border enforcement (a difficult task given the length of the US border- a fence is impractical and probably unworkable) and enforcing employment laws ALREADY ON THE BOOKS.

The current immigration bill was bad because it was a sop to cheap labor corporations and allowed what was essentially indentured servitude. People could work here for a length of time but NEVER be allowed to emigrate permanently or become citizens. Unfair at the very least.

So enforce the border and dry up the jobs.

[Xenotime]

10. We just need to open our arms to all these undocumented Americans.

Don't break up families.