Time to curb citizenship law

Letter date: 
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Letter publisher: 
The Register Guard
Letter author: 
Lewia R. Luchs
Letter body: 

A wall more likely to succeed than the physical wall Donald Trump is proposing is legal and psychological.

Estimates are that between 300,000 and 400,00 children born to undocumented aliens each year in the United States are granted U.S. citizenship by the simple fact of being born here. This is an unintended consequence of the 14th amendment, originally passed to grant citizenship to former slaves.

This policy creates a powerful motivation for illegal immigration into the United States since, as U.S. citizens, those born of undocumented aliens are automatically given the rights and privileges of U.S. citizens, including public-funded education and health care.

Almost all nations grant citizenship only to those who are the children of their citizens or who become citizens through established legal immigration procedures.

The few nations that followed the U.S. pattern — Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K., and India — have repealed that policy.

It’s way past time we do likewise.