Birthright+Citizenship

=Birthright Citizenship and Immigration= Extra Credit Discussion Open 31 Aug-7 September.

//Immigration has become one of the early issues for debate in the 2016 Presidential Election. We currently have 11 million undocumented illegal immigrants in our country who contribute to and/or detract from our prosperity in ways that we have a hard time measuring. Children of illegal immigrants who are born here are, by birth, American citizens- even if their parents are not. Some candidates have proposed ending this- but it is something guaranteed by our Constitution through the 14th Amendment.//


 * Within the issue of immigration, what do you think we can do about- or for, the children of illegal immigrants who are born in America and are thus American citizens? What are some of the dilemmas that result, and what can be done about those?**

Two editorials published in the __Plain Dealer__ this week addressed this issue, and it is now the opening topic of the Annenberg Speak Out National Student Discussion Forum for the 2015-16 School Year. If you post to the Harmon discussion and then copy your post into the Annenberg Discussion you can earn double points for the same post. Be sure to note in your Harmon post that you did this. Annenberg posts are read by the discussion administrator before they are posted, so there is about a one day delay before you'll see your post on their site. Follow the link below to check it out. GREAT background information on this topic has been copied below.

Annenberg Speak Out National Student Discussion Forum- Birthright Citizenship

Should birthright citizenship be denied to children of illegal immigrants?

August 24, 2015

by Jeremy Quattlebaum, Student Voices staff writer

Birthright citizenship – the right to citizenship for anyone born in the United States, regardless of their parents’ status – has been in the news lately. Here’s what you need to know about the recently challenged aspect of the 14th Amendment.

If you are born in the United States, you are automatically a citizen, a guarantee of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution that is known as “birthright citizenship.” A number of Republican lawmakers and president hopefuls are calling to an end to the right as a way to contain illegal immigration. The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research group, reported that 4 million children born in the United States in 2008 were children of undocumented immigrants.

The 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause 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 purpose of the clause was to guarantee citizenship to freed slaves and their descendants after the Civil War. Those who challenge birthright citizenship argue that illegal immigrants are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and so neither are their American-born children; these children, they argue, cannot therefore automatically become citizens. Since there was no such thing as an illegal immigrant at the time of the amendment’s adoption — immigration was not restricted or regulated then — opponents also contend that the amendment does not apply to illegal immigrants.
 * The citizenship clause is just one part of the [|14th Amendment], which was ratified after the Civil War to deal with civil rights issues when slavery ended. The amendment contains three limitations on state power that greatly expanded the reach of the Constitution: States shall not violate citizens’ privileges or immunities or deprive anyone of life, liberty or property without due process of law, and must guarantee all persons equal protections under the law ||

The Supreme Court, however, has upheld the right to birthright citizenship throughout history, granting citizenship to all people born here, except to children of foreign diplomats and Native American sovereign tribes. Supporters of birthright citizenship consider it an important element of the American ethos that prizes welcoming and assimilating diverse people.

Three paths to modifying or repealing birthright citizenship have been proposed:

1) Legislate change at the federal level: Under the proposed Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009, to be considered a citizen, a child must have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen, a legal permanent resident or an undocumented immigrant serving in the military. Other bills aimed at ending "birthright citizenship" have failed in Congress.

2) Amend the Constitution to revoke birthright citizenship: In the past, leading Republicans have proposed hearings on an amendment. But amending the Constitution is an extremely difficult process.

3) Get the Supreme Court to change its interpretation of the 14th Amendment: State Legislators for Legal Immigration, a coalition of Republican lawmakers from 15 states, has drafted state legislation that will deny citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal immigrants, possibly by barring the issuance of birth certificates. Birth certificates are under state authority, but issues of citizenship fall under federal jurisdiction, and so a change in state law that clashes with federal law will likely lead to lawsuits. Arizona State Rep. John Kavanagh said that is precisely the intention: provoke lawsuits that will end with the Supreme Court reexamining the 14th Amendment.

Opponents of birthright citizenship argue that illegal immigrants come to the United States to give birth to a child as a way of gaining quick access to citizenship for themselves. However, supporters contend that in fact, the law requires these children to wait until they are 21 to petition for legal residency status for their parents.

A study by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, observes that an end to birthright citizenship would increase the illegal immigration population, not reduce it, leading to “the establishment of a permanent class of undocumented workers.” The study predicts that the number of unauthorized immigrants could swell from 11 million to between 16 and 24 million by 2050, depending on how restrictive new laws would be.

**What do you think?**

Does birthright citizenship apply to the American-born children of illegal immigrants? What do you think of efforts to deny automatic citizenship to these children?