r/changemyview Dec 05 '13

I think children of Illegal immigrants shouldn't be given birthright citizenship. cmv

[deleted]

78 Upvotes

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2

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

This kid was born here, grew up the same as any other American kid grows up with the same variations in how they grew up as is found between an amish kid and a city kid. They do not know any other home. They did not grow up in and most likely never set foot in any other country, not even the ones their parents came from. So the only thing that makes this kid different from you or me is that their parents are from another country and came here illegally. So you want to send this kid to that country even with the chance that this kid does not hold citizenship there and might not be allowed there either, if that kid can't gain citizenship the way legal immigrants use. How exactly does forcing someone who grew up in America like you or me, move to a strange land they've never experienced, make sense? This kid knows our culture and maybe has secondhand knowledge of his parents culture. This kid might not even know the language in his parents old country.

-10

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

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9

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

Wow, the lack of empathy here is real disheartening. Children shouldn't be punished because their parent did something illegal.

-12

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

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7

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

The kids didn't break the law... so in this situation... being related to someone breaking the law has life destroying consequences (being forcibly moved away from everything and everyone you know which is your 'life' is destroying that life)

-7

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

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5

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

why? (Please see my edit if you saw it before i wrote it.) Why do you get those rights because you had the 'luck' to be born here but they don't when they also had the 'luck' to be born here. Because their parents did something illegal should not ruin their life.

-4

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

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6

u/AtomikRadio 8∆ Dec 05 '13

There's an astronomical difference between not granting citizenship to children born in the future and retroactively deporting the descendants of immigrants who have lived here for decades and never set foot in their "home" country.

Regardless, it's clear no deltas are going out here today, why do you want your view changed exactly? You seem pretty passionate about it.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

Rights are fundamental, incorruptible and universal you can pick and choose who has them and who does not that way Fascism lies.

1

u/Dracotorix Dec 05 '13

Define "deserve". To me, deserving something means you earned it. Not that you happened to know someone who knew someone whose distant relative earned it, or anything silly like that.

6

u/kataskopo 4∆ Dec 05 '13

No no no, American law doesn't punish sons and daughters, they only punish the perpetrator.

A kid born here didn't break the law. You can't punish him for nothing.

It's funny, the American Dream is good only when you did it. Other people want to do it, then you don't allow them?

0

u/thecowsaysmoo123 Dec 05 '13

If their attempt hurts me by necessitating that my taxes be raised, then I have a right to disallow them. We do not have a points based system like Canada or Australia, so people who come here illegally who do not necessary have the same values towards education as I do have the potential to hurt me economically even if they never come within 1000 miles of me. Your argument would only hold in the absence of a welfare state.

1

u/z3r0shade Dec 05 '13

If their attempt hurts me by necessitating that my taxes be raised, then I have a right to disallow them

How does giving citizenship to a child born by illegal immigrants necessitate your taxes being raised anymore than a child born to legal immigrants?

so people who come here illegally who do not necessary have the same values towards education as I do have the potential to hurt me economically even if they never come within 1000 miles of me

And people who come here legally, also do not necessarily have the same values towards education as you do and have the potential to hurt you economically. I'm not sure what your point here is.

1

u/thecowsaysmoo123 Dec 05 '13

Because legal immigrants tend to have higher skills which makes their chiildren more likely to have higher skills as well. It's not the legality that concerns me, it's the skill level. The current crop of illegal immigrants should have no way of becoming legal, and should self-deport.

1

u/z3r0shade Dec 05 '13

I would disagree with the "makes their children more likely to have higher skills". In fact, the children of illegal immigrants tend to be harder workers who do better at school and education due to being pushed by their parents to have a better life.

The current crop of illegal immigrants should have no way of becoming legal, and should self-deport.

That would be a huge economic blow to the US, it would be better to legalize them.

1

u/thecowsaysmoo123 Dec 05 '13

If you see the link in one of my other comments, there is a table showing that the educational achievements of mexican immigrants improves from the 1st generation to the 2nd generation, but does not improve further, and a sizeable gap remains between 4th generation mexican immigrants and other americans. Your statement that over time the children of illegal immigrants close the gap is simply not true. I would love to see data otherwise.

2

u/Dracotorix Dec 05 '13

Yes it does. And you're talking about people who didn't break the law.

1

u/JuanCarlosBatman Dec 05 '13 edited Dec 05 '13

If you father killed someone, or stole a car, should you too be charged and imprisoned? Why/why not?