History of Birthright Citizenship
Lately, Trump and other candidates have attacked birthright citizenship, calling it an outdated program that does little to help our nation. Certainly Trump, and others, have no understanding of where it was created in the first place. Before the civil war, the children of slaves were slaves, and were not granted U.S. citizenship. After the civil war, there was a demand that the children of those brought to this nation against their will should be citizens. They were born on U.S. soil and this country was all they had ever known. The government agreed and the fourteenth amendment introduced “birthed” birthright citizenship (forgive the pun). Birthright citizenship is exactly what it sounds like, citizenship is the legal birthright of anyone born in the United States.
Why ending Birthright Citizenship helps attorneys
Some still argue, Just because a kid was born here doesn’t mean he is a citizen of this nation. They are usually referring to the children of undocumented immigrants, what some call “anchor babies.” That principle is ill-founded because then wouldn’t that apply to us as well? If the child of an American citizen is born on American soil, what makes that child a citizen? As of now, that child does not have to fill out citizenship paperwork, nor do his parents. Because that child was born in the United States, he is a citizen. If we were to do away with birthright citizenship, every single child born in the United States would have to be shown to be the child of citizens. This would result in a large amount of paperwork, but hey that’s great for the attorneys!
How to end Birthright Citizenship?
Ending birthright citizenship would mean changing the fourteenth amendment. As the graphic shows, a proposal would have to be introduced either
- By two-thirds (66%) of the members of both the House and Senate; or
- A convention attended by two-thirds (66%) of all of the States.
Then the proposal must be ratified by one of two ways:
- By three-fourths (75%) of the state legislatures; or
- By three- fourths (75%) of the ratifying conventions in the states.
As you can see this is not a simple process.
Who benefits from ending Birthright Citizenship?
If we amended the constitution to end birthright citizenship, rather than amending the constitution to avoid discrimination, we would be amending the constitution to discriminate. Directly against the reason why this particular amendment was created in the first place. Instead of the slaves, we are now discriminating against kids born, raised, and educated in our country. Nothing good would come out of this policy, except for attorneys who can help with the paperwork to prove you are a citizen.
Free Resources for Your
You, your loved one, or friend is interested in U.S. legal status but doesn’t know where to start?
- Do You Qualify for Legal Status? Find out by clicking the link, answering the questions, and reading the results.
- Do You Need an Immigration Attorney? You Might Not every petition requires an attorney, but you need to know what you are applying for and how to do so.
- 7 Critical Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Immigration Attorney Learn how to find the right attorney for your case.
- An Immigrant’s Guide to Municipal Court Will you offense place you in removal proceedings? What doe that mean. Find out here.
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