Anchor Babies Debate
Illegal Immigration: Is it truly all that bad?
Illegal immigration into the United States from its southern border country, Mexico has drawn the attention of many over the last few years. Since 9-11 border security and national security have given notice to the immigration activity from Mexican citizens into the United States typically through either California or Texas borderlines. With these immigrants comes a host of benefits and problems that must be evaluated to determine if this immigration activity should be more strictly controlled in some manner. One issue is the fact that children born in the United States to illegal immigrants are automatically granted U.S. citizenship and all the rights thereof. These "anchor babies" number 200,000 each year. Should these illegal immigrants' children born in the U.S. be allowed to become naturalized citizens? Let's review the benefits and problems associated with illegal immigration and anchor babies in the United States.
Providing illegal immigrants' children born in the U.S. citizenship will avoid social unrest by immigrants. These anchor babies as they are labeled by some are automatically granted citizenship to the USA. Through this grant the immigrants gain a sense of acceptance and homeland allegiance that spawns happiness and a sense of future opportunity.
By embracing all babies at birth as Americans, the nation has avoided the societal unrest that has festered in France, where even French-born children of Arab and other legal immigrants do not automatically become citizens until they reach 18. Resentment and discrimination from that segregated status is blamed for contributing to the rage that exploded into riots in recent weeks across France. (Hoffman, 2005)
The right to citizenship granted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution is a fundamental basis of our country and as such should remain without change. The amendment originally authored to allow former slaves to...
Please login to view the full essay...