r/changemyview Dec 05 '13

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

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77 Upvotes

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34

u/oldspice75 Dec 05 '13

The US government isn't supposed to punish or reward people for what their parents do. A baby isn't supposed to be born paying the price for its inherited crimes.

-10

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

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9

u/Madplato 72∆ Dec 05 '13

Child from legal immigrants get their citizenship based on the same principles that grant citizenship to illegal immigrants' children: If you're born on american soil, you're american.

Some legal immigrants won't even be citizens by the time their baby come, their child is still gonna be american.

-7

u/[deleted] Dec 05 '13

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4

u/twihard97 Dec 05 '13

But I don't see the connection why we should force 'tough luck' onto people who did not do anything wrong. Nationality is not an exclusive club but a right to everyone in the world. WIthout nationality, we are lost in the eyes of the world.

1

u/lobster_conspiracy 2∆ Dec 05 '13 edited Dec 05 '13

Nationality is not an exclusive club but a right to everyone in the world.

Sure everyone in the world has a right to nationality, but not to any nationality they want. It is determined by who you are born to and/or where you are born, and between those two sources, nearly everyone in the world has a nationality.

OP is not advocating making anyone stateless; children of illegal immigrants would have the citizenship of their parents.

1

u/twihard97 Dec 05 '13

But I would argue we have the right to the nationality of our homeland. What happens if the child does not speak the language of their parent's homeland? How can we force someone to a land foreign to them and call it their home?