Should babies born in America become American citizens automatically if their parents are illegals?

Question

This is currently the situation in America, as you know, and one reason why I disagree with it is because of the economic impact that it has.

Illegals are ineligible for some public assistance programs, but are able to receive them on behalf of their American-born baby. If a guestworker/amnesty plan was initiated, it would invite and retain mostly low-income workers who are the people who use them, thus significantly increasing the cost to taxpayers. Currently, approximately 24.9% of illegal aliens receive some sort of major welfare benefit.

Some people have used the basically racist argument, "Mexicans don't use welfare because they actually work!" In actuality, low-income workers or their children are eligible for most welfare programs, as some can only be used by those who work, while others use them while looking for employment.
Even when they have lived in the US for many years, immigrants, legal or otherwise, use welfare programs at double the rate of natives. Your take?

Anti Shiraz: The plane crashed so there's no survivors. :p

Answer 1

Absolutely, by definition anyone born on US Soil is a citizen of the United States of America.

That is why Arnold Schwartzenegger cannot run for President of the USA, he was not born on US Soil.

What if a baby is born on an international flight from Mexico to the USA, and is over Mexico, but the parents are US Citizens?

What if it is over the USA?

The ramifications can be mind boggling.

If a plane crashes on the US/Mexican border, where do you bury the survivors, US or Mexico?

Answer 2

We can't pass laws that require something of a different country, such as that country's citizenship rules. We can only pass and enforce laws that effect our citizens or people visiting our country, whether they are here legally or not. I'm pretty sure that anchor babies are not citizens of the US if their parents are not citizens. I know that is not the common understanding at this time but I think it is the intent of the Constitution and when it is finally tested they will not be citizens. If for example an American soldier and his wife are stationed in a foreign country and they have a baby (not born on base, which IS American soil) there the baby is an American. It is NOT a (whatever country) citizen. Babies who are born while their parents are traveling are citizens of the parent's country. There is no reason to reward illegal invaders of our country with citizenship for their children. That is not the law and that is not the custom. It is merely a contention by illegals that their little anchors are Americans thus spreading Americanism to the whole family.

Answer 3

We have citizens who work or are in the military....I mean do all them automatically get citizenship in whatever country they're in just because they had their child there? I would hate to think if something happened on a vacation and I had a child on foreign soil that it would mean they HAD to be citizens of that country. Maybe it's just this attitude that they are using that makes it sound like any child born here must be a citizen.

I would think if it was really believed to be the case......people would have been doing this all along to gain easy citizenship here. Just like since when isn't English our language? Never been questioned before. Why now?

I believe one parent should be a citizen or at the least.....been here working legally towards citizenship. Not just coz you made your hind end over the border in time or planned your vacation just perfectly. There are rights to citizenship but there are also responsibilities. Diminish what it means to be a citizen to just what freebies can I get.....then what's the point? Kind of like what they did with marriage. Why say till death do you part if you only mean till something better comes along? Yes there are legitimate exceptions to every rule.....but this has obvioulsy been abused and mis-used.

Why should Americans continue to fight and die and pay taxes while others just sit back, reap the benefits and demand more?

This attitude reminds me of greedy bimbos targeting old millionaires to marry just to gain the fortune at the expense of other family members and children. And then on to the next old man to clean dry. (Guys do it too) You don't set the situation up and then cry victim just because you went through meaningless motions and expect the jackpot for minimul effort and an easy ride. It makes people mistrust others and destroys what the meaning is. It's erroded our families and now something like this (citizenship) errodes our country when people are just looking for what they can get.

Answer 4

One of the "benefits" of "bringing them out of the shadows" with the immigration bill will be that they'll file income tax returns and fill out schedule EIC which is essentially federal welfare to low-income families, and that will provide them with an additional $1000 to $2000 per year payout from taxpayers. So they don't even have to use welfare programs to receive welfare.

When they get legal and can draw social security is when the system will really begin to strain.

Answer 5

No person should be granted American citizenship unless their parents are Americans. Incredible how illegal aliens can have a child here and the taxpayer is saddled with yet another expense.

It seems to me that everyone I know, persons of all races, creeds and sex agree with me, but as usual the idiot politicians who managed to talk their way into washington are deaf as well as blind to this reality.

Answer 6

Well said!

It is the law that any child born in the US is a citizen but my personal thought is that if both parents are illegal then the child should be illegal as well. In fact, I'm going to write my congressman and tell him so. I have the email addresses for EVERY senator and every congressman in the US and I'm going to use them. I even have the president's personal email address.

Answer 7

No. Or the babies could stay citizens, but we could force the parents to leave, and either bring the baby back with them or give it up for adoption. There are plenty of Americans waiting to adopt a baby. But foreigners who sneak into America to have babies shouldn't be allowed to stay here because of it.

Answer 8

No. That is one loophole that needs to be fixed. Only children of legal resident aliens should be allowed to become citizens, and only at the age when the child is able to read, write, and speak english, if born in America. Automatic citizenship for children born in America should only go to the children of American citizen parents (at least one). Otherwise, a lot of the illegal aliens will use this loophole to their advantage to get the benefits that legal residents get. This loophole is unfair for the legal residents, and costing the taxpayers a lot of money, and should be closed immediately!

Answer 9

NO!

This is a bunch of illegal invaders taking advantage of a misapplication of the 14th amendment, which was intended to secure rights for the former slaves in this country.

For most countries, if you are born at home, you obviously inherit your parents' national identity. If you are born away from home, you still get your parents' national identity. For example, if an American couple is in Canada on vacation and has a baby, that child is an American citizen and would not even be eligible for Canadian citizenship, and so goes most of the world. Why should we let these illegal invaders use this as a cheap means of obtaining an unlawful citizenship?

Answer 10

How did you become a citizen, sparky? Did you take a naturalization test in utero?

Or were you like me: a recipient of US Citizenship as soon as your head popped out?

Do you want to retroactively cancel your own citizenship? If the only way to become a citizen is to have two parents who were born here, than if we go back far enough, none of us are citizens, not even the native Americans.

So once again, the immigration argument is stripped down to its core. You don't want Mexicans in this country. Well, too bad.

Answer 11

I believe that yes they should be American Citizens but the parents or the child will not receive any benefits what so ever and pay for all the expenses of the hospital and support. If they do not o take care of business the child should be stripped of his citizenship and the whole bunch deported.