Should being U.S. born automatically confer citizenship?
SHOULD the American-born children of illegal immigrants be granted automatic citizenship here? Fifty-eight percent of Americans are against that practice, according to one recent poll. Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, debate the issue. By Joel Mathis WHAT does the 14th Amendment really mean with regard to “birthright citizenship?” Tough to say. Even the men who wrote and passed the amendment in 1868 weren’t in full agreement on that point. The amendment says that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” are citizens.” But the legislative debate over that language was fierce – some senators argued it surely didn’t mean that children of American Indians or Gypsies or Chinese would be granted the same citizenship as white people. The debate continues today. But birthright citizenship – a long American tradition – should continue. Why? For one thing, it’s a matter of simple humanity. Denying citizenship to a
