Birthright Citizenship: A 14th Amendment Loophole

Birthright Citizenship: A 14th Amendment Loophole

Take your vacation, get citizenship in another nation! Is this the hook used in United States travel brochure these days? Ludicrous as this sound, it is actually happening. People travel to our country for the sole purpose of giving birth here. According to the 14th Amendment, a child born in our country to an illegal alien is automatically a citizen. This, in turn, entitles that child's family to legal residency.

Today, 1 in 12 children born in the U.S. have at least one illegal parent. This number is probably much higher here in Texas. In some instances, individuals purposefully travel to the U.S. on "vacation" in order for their child to be born here, thereby gaining citizenship benefits. At the heart of this growing phenomenon are the infants born under the 14th Amendment's natural born citizenship clause. Besides giving citizenship to the child, the clause allows the child's family members to maintain residency in the U.S. Even cousins and other extended family members can reap the citizenship benefits from this birth.

The increase can compound problems in areas such as the job market, housing, and healthcare. I do not feel our government should continue to allow this type of citizenship. In my opinion, when the 14th Amendment was written after the Civil War, it did not intend for citizenship to be granted in this way.

When the Fourteen Amendment was written during the Reconstruction period, the intent was to guarantee that freed slaves were not cheated of their rights as American citizens. There were American Indians and foreign born individuals in the U.S. at that time, but they were not included in the amendment. Today, if a child of a diplomat from Germany is born in an American hospital instead of on embassy grounds, they do not become a citizen of the United States. On the other side of that coin, if I had been born during a trip my parents made to Germany, I would not be a German citizen. Very few countries grant automatic citizenship for children born to illegal aliens. Our lawmakers have made some efforts to make changes in this loophole in the Amendment, but have not had much success during the present administration. These efforts should continue and strengthen in order to address the growing concern that many U.S. citizens, like myself, have regarding this matter.

Authorities are probably lenient because they do not want to cause controversy by dividing these families. Politicians don't want to get involved because they may be afraid of hurting their careers if they are perceived as being "against babies". Legislative action is needed to clarifiy the 14th Amendment, thereby plugging this loop hole and ending abuse of citizenship in our nation.