Birthright Citizenship is the practice of offering automatic citizenship to children born in the United States. Under current federal law, all children born in the U.S. receive automatic citizenship, but this practice had created a magnet for foreign nationals who want their children to have citizenship in the United States.
As of 2015, bills have been introduced in both the House and the Senate to end birthright citizenship—S.45 introduced by Sen. Vitter and H.R. 140 by Rep. Steve King.
The Supreme Court has never officially ruled on the interpretation of the first clause of the 14th Amendment, which 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 interpretation of the section "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" is what leads to the birthright citizenship debate for illegal aliens.
Immigration continues to dominate discussions at local meetings.
The information below was gathered from studies conducted by organizations such as The Center for Immigration Studies and The Pew Hispanic Center.
MYTH: The main problem with birthright citizenship is that it provides an enticement for illegal immigration and increases the number of dual citizens.
TRUTH: Anchor babies are the main problem because it allows illegal alien parents to stay in the U.S.
The straw man that many set up is that the argument against birthright citizenship is based on the belief that it is a major enticement for illegal immigration.
This week Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) re-introduced the S.45: Birthright Citizenship Act of 2015. Vitter’s bill would close the loophole by clarifying that birthright citizenship is only given to the children of U.S. citizens and legal resident aliens.
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) introduced H.R. 140 last week that would end birthright citizenship for children born to two illegal-alien parents on U.S. soil. The bill is cosponsored by eight other Representatives.
In the Spring of 1999, Charles Wood wrote "Losing Control of America's Future -- the Census, Birthright Citizenship, and Illegal Aliens," published by the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. Wood provided legal counsel to the United States Senate Immigration Subcommittee from 1995-97, 1985 and 1979-82.
Birthright Citizenship is the automatic granting of citizenship to children born within a nation's borders or territories. The United States and Canada are the only developed nations in the world to still offer Birthright Citizenship to tourists and illegal aliens. The map to the left shows the nations that still grant Birthright Citizenship -- the nations in RED are the developed nations; the nations in ORANGE are the non-developed nations.
Birthright citizenship is based on an interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was originally enacted to ensure civil rights for the newly freed slaves after the Civil War. Section 1 of the Fourteenth 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."
