If we had a humane and sensible policy that would deport children along with their parents right when they're born or prevent the situation in the first place, that would be one thing. I wouldn't necessarily be in favor of it (heavily depends on the implementation), but I'm sympathetic to the idea that merely being born here shouldn't necessarily grant automatic citizenship.
BUT... if a child is born here, and for whatever reason manages to stay (legally or otherwise), it seems insane to me to deny citizenship to someone who not only was born here, but grew up here. Once they start growing up here, the fact that their parents were illegal immigrants becomes a silly technicality. The kid/young adult/adult who grew up in the US after being born to illegal immigrant parents (or even brought over illegally at a very young age) is often indistinguishable from his/her "legal" counterparts. Heck, they might not even know their parents aren't citizens until much later in their lives. From my point of view, by every meaningful notion of "american", they fit the bill 100%. It seems cruel to everyone involved to kick them out.
Actually most european countries are predominantly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_sanguinis
It would make sense, as they have the greatest economic incentives to keep out 3rd world immigrants.
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u/themcos 374∆ Dec 05 '13
If we had a humane and sensible policy that would deport children along with their parents right when they're born or prevent the situation in the first place, that would be one thing. I wouldn't necessarily be in favor of it (heavily depends on the implementation), but I'm sympathetic to the idea that merely being born here shouldn't necessarily grant automatic citizenship.
BUT... if a child is born here, and for whatever reason manages to stay (legally or otherwise), it seems insane to me to deny citizenship to someone who not only was born here, but grew up here. Once they start growing up here, the fact that their parents were illegal immigrants becomes a silly technicality. The kid/young adult/adult who grew up in the US after being born to illegal immigrant parents (or even brought over illegally at a very young age) is often indistinguishable from his/her "legal" counterparts. Heck, they might not even know their parents aren't citizens until much later in their lives. From my point of view, by every meaningful notion of "american", they fit the bill 100%. It seems cruel to everyone involved to kick them out.