Instant Citizenship -- A Bad Idea

The Los Angeles Times has reported on the "birth tourism" industry with expectant mothers flying in to give birth on U.S. soil. One Latino health official said prenatal care for illegal aliens is "our daily nightmare". Having an "instant citizen" has attracted many illegal alien teenagers to give birth here. When prenatal benefits began for illegal aliens in 1988 California's teenage birthrate was below the national average; five years later it was twice the national average and the highest of any state, and it continues to remain high. The Center for Disease Control reports Hispanic teenage births are now the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. One quarter of Hispanic girls are mothers by age 20. Unfortunately, 45% of Hispanic births are out of wedlock; from El Salvador 73%, Jamaica 86%.

The facts for teenagers with babies are that their children are also more likely to be teen parents, to be un-wed, to becomr welfare dependent, to earn less, to be gang members, to be school drop-outs, and for boys: eight times more likely to be incarcerated.

Illegal immigration will never end without ending automatic citizenship. Once that baby is born on U.S. soil, the illegal alien parents are on their way to being legalized 21 years later. Five years later they can become "naturalized." Congress is doing nothing to eliminate this giant loophole; this extremely unfair way to gain a foothold here is clearly an abuse of the 14th amendment and is spiraling out of control. Meanwhile, legal immigrants wait patiently for years to come here legally.

Automatic citizenship (jus soli) is causing endless problems for society. The two U.S. Attorneys General, prior to passage of the 14th Amendment, both wrote that the U.S. had broken away from birthright citizenship at the time of the Revolutionary War. Members of Congress and the states which passed the 14th Amendment believed that only births to parents, "not subject to a foreign power" were born "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States.

Every country in Europe has ended birthright citizenship, a feudalistic, uncivilized practice rooted in Medieval England. But for the United States it is only going to get worse because we have not done anything to stop it. The import of all this has not been absorbed by the ethnocentric brethren of the illegal aliens. They accept this abuse of the 14th Amendment without a second thought. They oppose any attempt to limit birthright citizenship and abhor the fully descriptive term "anchor babies." They must be living in La La Land or Cuckooville. How can they be considered loyal Americans?