Undocumented Immigrants

Over a century ago, the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution was implemented to grant citizenship to individuals born within the country. This was the first time that it was defined what it means to be a citizen in the U.S. While the amendment was created to address the citizenship of slaves, it is currently under speculation in regards to granting U.S. citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants (Gans, 2012). While there have been many arguments to place restrictions or eradicate granting children of undocumented immigrants U.S. citizenship, the constitutional right remains the same: if you are born on U.S. land, you are a citizen (Angelo, 2013). This paper argues that the birthright citizenship of U.S. born children of undocumented immigrants should continue to be granted based on the underlying principles of the 14th Amendment and the possible implications of ending birthright citizenship. First, this paper describes birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment, as well as its use in several Supreme Court cases that are significant to this issue. Then, various implications of eradicating birthright citizenship are discussed. Before discussing the possible consequences of eradicating birthright citizenship, it is imperative to discuss the history and principles underlying it.

Becoming a U.S. citizen is a long process with a lot of requirements. These requirements take copious amounts of time which do not help lower the current illegal immigration population in the United States. In fact, “as of the year 2016, the United States population was 323.1 million citizens, approximately- 12.5 million of those citizens living in the United States are illegal immigrants” (Raley). In order for an undocumented immigrant to qualify for U.S citizenship they must meet very specific criteria. A path to citizenship is a long process, which in some cases can take up to ten years or longer. Before becoming a citizen of the United States, the recipient must be a green card holder for at least five years. If the

     Those opposed to ending the clause in the Birthright Citizenship Amendment will argue that… “The framers' intent was to create an objective basis for establishing citizenship—birth—not a subjective standard left to the whim of a majority. The United States has, for that reason, never struggled like other nations to integrate those born here” (Fitz, 2010). The thought process here is that those born natural citizens of the US from alien parents will always carry the stigma of having been the children of aliens. This could cause more undue injustice towards these people than the founding fathers wanted. After all, they were all alien to this soil.

Illegal immigration has become more of an important issue in the United States since Donald Trump’s campaign for president in 2016. Immigration can be known as the act of people crossing national borders to live permanently in other countries. It becomes illegal when they cross those borders without the legal right to be in those countries. The U.S. has been an immigrant country since the pilgrims in the 1600s and has ever since, been diverse. Most of the immigrants are Latinos that come from Central America, but they also come from all over the world. The current path to legal citizenship is flawed and needs to be reformed to allow rights to be upheld, equal and fair treatment of all applicants, and to facilitate the process altogether.

The 14th Amendment played a large role in the way we perceive today’s society. Being that the beginning of the 14th Amendment states “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”, the intent of the 14th Amendment is to stop the granting of automatic citizenship of new born babies in the United States. Those babies were born by illegal mothers which deems them to be considered as illegal immigrants. The reason why immigration is bad is due to immigrants taking control of the resources that were meant for Americans to use; such as jobs, free health benefits, education benefits, free housing and much more, thus triggering the start of the 14th Amendment. Aside from immigration, another motive for the 14th Amendment was due to other states violating United States citizens’ rights. In the case

     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      (http://www.house.gov/Constitution/Amend.html ).

The article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” was written by Jose Antonio Vargas. In it, Vargas tells of the time when his mother brought him to the Phillippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport when he was twelve. His mother told him that she wanted to give him a better life so he boarded onto a plane with a man he had never met before and was told that he was his uncle. He arrived in Mountain View, California and moved in with his grandparents Lolo and Lola. Vargas says that he grew to love his new home and when he entered sixth grade that’s when he found his passion for language. He tells of his struggle of making a distinction between “formal English and

According to the fourteenth amendment website the fourteenth amendment “is currently misinterpreted to give citizenship to children born in the United States of illegal alien parents. These children, via their birthright citizenship, act as anchor babies and can, upon reaching the age of majority, facilitate bringing their extended family into the US in order to obtain citizenship. Although some experts believe that a Constitutional amendment would be necessary to remedy the misinterpretation, many believe that Congressional action would be sufficient and is urgently warranted.” Not until later was it seen “With illegal aliens who are unlawfully in the United States, their native country has a claim of allegiance on the child. Thus, the completeness of their allegiance to the United States is impaired, which therefore precludes automatic citizenship” (Fourteen Amendment). This was basically a warning for immigrants stating they are responsible for their child and they would not become legal just because they were born in the United States and they would both be claimed by their native land. For example, if a woman from Mexico was to come to the United States illegally, at 8 months pregnant, and have her baby they would not just become legal citizens.

Leaving a entire family and friends is not an easy task, and crossing the border illegally in search of the american dream is even harder. The first thing a friend said was, that if I could buy him a hat, another friends asked for money to help him to buy a expensive phone and another friend said that since I live in U.S it means I am reach, it was not until I hear those words that I understood how wrong was the idea that people had about U.S. That the money grow on trees, or that people find it on the streets like if it was nothing. The reality was different, at the age of 15 I started helping my mom to clean houses and offices at 2 am, I remember how hard it was for my mother to keep two jobs so that she could provide us the things we needed.

Thanks to the civil rights movement, immigrants can possess the rights of an American if they pass the US civics exam. Immigrants make up 13 percent of the US population, and the amount is growing rapidly. “These provisions are universal in their application to all persons within the territorial jurisdiction, without regard to any differences of race, of color, or nationality; and the equal protection of the laws is a pledge of the protection of equal laws.” ("Undocumented Immigrants DO Have Legal Rights - VIDEO." MALDEF:. Web. 5 Jan. 2016. , 2). The rights for the immigrants have been the same sense 1896, and the Supreme Court ruled that. According to the fourteenth amendment, immigrants have many rights. “…the right to equal protection of

America is considered to be the “land of opportunity,” yet ironically, its doors are closed to the vast majority of people seeking to become citizens and pursue this opportunity. Legal immigration to the United States is a complicated process that is generally limited to those that have been petitioned by family members or employers, or have fled their home country as refugees. Most unauthorized immigrants do not meet these requirements, and even those that do may have to wait years or even decades. This leaves many with the choice to either immigrate illegally, or not immigrate at all. Those who choose the former receive criticism from Americans that do not understand why they refuse to just “get in line” and become legitimate citizens, but this line already has 4 million people, and for many there is no line at all. The naturalization process is specifically designed to protect the national security of the country, but there are some immigrants that could potentially be hard-working, law-abiding citizens who are denied this opportunity due to the complexity of the process. It would be beneficial to make a simpler pathway to citizenship for these immigrants specifically, and reduce the number of illegal immigrants, strengthen the economy, and keep families together.

For several years, politicians and leaders have talked about and debated over immigrants living in the United States without the proper documentation that declare them a citizen of the States. Many of these immigrants have started families and lived in the United States for many years. Some of these immigrants were brought and raised in the United States as babies and have only known this country since a young age. In the dictionary a citizen is, “a native or naturalized person who owes allegiance to a government and is entitled to protection from it” (“Citizen”). An enormous amount of immigrants considers themselves as citizens of the U.S. because they were raised on U.S. soil and not the country they were born from. However, politicians

Donald Trump wants to take away citizenship rights to every child born out of illegal parents in the U.S. Now if that were to be ok, would it be ok to take away his citizenship as well? The Pilgrims and other European settlers arrived at the Americas at the break of the 16th century in search a better place, a place of freedom, happiness and away from persecution. Therefore, American was created by immigrants in some way so unless you are a Native American you can’t claim rights to be a citizen in this country-not if you are going by what the U.S. constitution said in the 14th amendment about naturalize born citizen. So is Donald Trump trying to get rid of the 14th

It brings different minds together that can create something big. It would improve social services and help free up funds since countries would no longer have to provide benefits for their children (Pros and Cons of Birthright Citizenship). This would allow the funds to be freed up and help other people. Birth tourism also limits the rights that children with citizenship have as well as the costs, which allows them to be used elsewhere (Pros and Cons of Birthright Citizenship). 4 Another benefit would be that it would allow local dollars to be spent locally. Rather than sending money overseas, it keeps the money in the country for children born through illegal practices. 4 By keeping the money local, the value of one dollar can be doubled if it is spent within the same community (Lombardo). However, some cons include illegal immigration. Since the 14th amendment allows for foreigners to gain citizenship for their children, it increases the incentive for families outside of the U.S. to enter and give birth. Since many of the government funds go to illegal mothers giving birth, the U.S. would save more money as fewer immigrants wanted to come to the country for citizenship (Apecsecadmin). The 14th amendment is very controversial with its true meaning. Many argue that it does not cover illegal immigrants and only people here with proper documentation. By allowing foreigners to enter and gain rights for their children, it is taking away from the country’s

There are eleven million undocumented immigrants that choose to move to the United States for a better life. Undocumented “illegal” immigrants vary from individuals who migrate from the following countries: Mexico, China, Philippines, India, and many more. It is often assumed that these undocumented/unauthorized immigrants are simply Mexicans who cross the southwest border and take one man’s job. “At the White House, they are … criminals who menace American neighborhoods, take America jobs … and exploit American generosity” They are people who should be, and will be, expelled” (NY Times).The United States is an option these individuals choose so they can begin a new life here, which is why many undocumented individuals, not only Hispanics, migrate to the United States. Studies show that out of the eleven million immigrants, “almost a quarter are not even Hispanic.” (NY Times). Aside from these undocumented individuals who risk their lives by stepping into a better opportunity, these individuals must worry about the community they choose to step into. Depending on where exactly these individuals decide to move to, the chances of moving to a sanctuary city are fair. There are many sanctuary states, cities, and counties here in the United States that are available and beneficial for undocumented individuals. Although there are many benefits of moving to a sanctuary city as an undocumented individual, there are also benefits of moving to a sanctuary city as an undocumented