Automatic Citizenship for Children of Illegals; Global Trend Is Toward Tighter Policies

/PRNewswire/ -- Every year, 300,000 to 400,000 children are born to illegal immigrants in the United States, each one of them automatically a U.S. citizen despite the illegal status of their parents. This practice of automatic, or birthright, citizenship is not the result of any specific legislation, regulation, executive order, or judicial ruling, and yet has become de facto law of the land.

This has recently become an issue of political controversy, but has been debated for many years. Legislation aimed at narrowing the scope of birthright citizenship has been introduced in every Congress for many years, and the latest iteration has attracted nearly 100 sponsors in the current Congress. Likewise, some leading legal scholars and jurists have long questioned whether such a permissive citizenship policy is constitutionally mandated.

The international trend is clearly away from universal birthright citizenship. Those countries that have ended the practice in recent years include the United Kingdom (1983), Australia (1986), India (1987), Malta (1989), Ireland (2005), New Zealand (2006), and the Dominican Republic (2010). The overwhelming majority of the world's countries do not offer automatic citizenship to everyone born within their borders.

In a new report, "Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A Global Comparison," the Center for Immigration Studies' legal policy analyst Jon Feere reviews the history of the issue in American law and presents the most up-to-date research on birthright citizenship policies throughout the world. The global findings are the result of direct communication with foreign government officials and analysis of foreign law. The report concludes that Congress should promote a serious discussion about whether the United States should automatically confer the benefits and burdens of U.S. citizenship on the children of aliens whose presence is temporary or illegal.

The report is online at http://www.cis.org/birthright-citizenship. Among the findings:

-- Only 30 of the world's 194 countries grant automatic citizenship to
children born to illegal aliens.
-- Of advanced economies, Canada and the United States are the only
countries that grant automatic citizenship to children born to illegal
aliens.
-- No European country grants automatic citizenship to children of
illegal aliens.
-- The global trend is moving away from automatic birthright citizenship
as many countries that once had such policies have ended them in
recent decades.
-- 14th Amendment history seems to indicate that the Citizenship Clause
was never intended to benefit illegal aliens nor legal foreign
visitors temporarily present in the United States.
-- The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the U.S.-born children of
permanent resident aliens are covered by the Citizenship Clause, but
the Court has never decided whether the same rule applies to the
children of aliens whose presence in the United States is temporary or
illegal.
-- Eminent scholars and jurists, including Professor Peter Schuck of Yale
Law School and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner, have
concluded that it is within the power of Congress to define the scope
of the Citizenship Clause through legislation, and that birthright
citizenship for the children of temporary visitors and illegal aliens
could likely be abolished by statute without amending the
Constitution.



The Center for Immigration Studies is an independent, non-partisan research institution that examines the impact of immigration on the United States.

Libertarians: Most Dangerous Part of Bush Legacy is What Cannot Be Seen

America's largest third party says the most dangerous part of President George Bush's legacy is that which cannot be seen. "President Bush leaves office after eight years having pushed the idea that people should trust the government because it knows what's right for them," says Libertarian Party spokesperson Andrew Davis. "This is the most dangerous facet of the Bush legacy."

"In a matter of decades, we have gone from President Reagan who said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help,' to President Bush, who considers those words to be inspirational and rousing," says Davis.

"Americans, especially conservatives, have been brainwashed into trusting—without question—that the government will do the right thing," says Davis. "What have we gotten in exchange? A bigger, more powerful government that has shown no fidelity to civil liberties or the Constitution."

"Americans forgot that enemies of freedom are both foreign and domestic," says Davis.

"Bush leaves office with many Republicans looking at government the same as their Democratic colleagues," says Davis. "They see government as an agent of good in society, rather than an agent of corruption or iniquity. The economy can rebound and civil liberties can be restored, but ideas have lasting consequences. The idea that government can be unquestionably trusted will have disastrous consequences for liberty in the United States," explains Davis.

"The most terrifying phrase a citizen of a free country can hear is, 'In Government We Trust,'" says Davis.

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