I'm No 'Anchor Baby,' I'm an American
New America Media, Youth Commentary, Ricardo Vargas, Posted: Feb 17, 2006
Editor's Note: Congress is debating several immigration proposals, including one that would keep children of undocumented immigrants from becoming citizens. New America Media contributor Ricardo Vargas, 22, is a writer for Silicon Valley De-Bug (www.siliconvalleydebug.com), a NAM project. His name has been changed.
SAN JOSE, Calif.--America has hit rock bottom in the immigration debate. Not satisfied with "cracking down" on people who enter this country without authorization, some in Congress now want to take away the right to citizenship of American-born children of undocumented immigrants.
As the son of an undocumented immigrant, and as an American citizen by birth, I know the power that citizenship gives me. I also know what taking it away would mean to a generation of children of immigrants.
The Citizenship Reform Act, currently in subcommittee in the House, is un-American. It goes against the 14th Amendment, which says, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." This provision was designed to protect freed slaves. Now it feels like undocumented immigrants are America's new slave class. This country depends on our labor but does not want to afford us the protections of law.
The bill is based on the belief that undocumented immigrants came here with an evil plan to have babies, so those babies can sponsor their parents for citizenship once they become 21. This might sound like an irrational plan, but enough people believe in it that they've even given children born here to undocumented parents a name -- "anchor babies."
I didn't realize I had a different status from my mother until I was a teenager. We were coming back from a visit to Mexico. My mom's visa had expired just weeks earlier. When we were going through customs, an immigration official told my mother she could not come in because she was a "foreigner." My mom had to stay in Mexico for a year. I had to live with my aunt and uncle during that time. Not having papers can rip a family apart.
Some people say that if the American-born children of immigrants are denied automatic citizenship, it's no big deal -- they can just "go through the process" and apply for citizenship. Those who make this suggestion have no idea how long, expensive and often fruitless that process can be. After my mother came back from that trip to Mexico, she tried to get her visa renewed but was rejected. So now her status is in limbo -- she has her own real social security number but doesn't have a green card.
Then there's my grandmother. After years of waiting, she finally got a letter in the email telling her that her naturalization application had been accepted. Unfortunately, she had died a few months earlier.
I can imagine how my life would be if I were not a citizen. I would be like my undocumented family members and friends -- unable to get a good job, a driver's license or financial aid for college. For sure I would not be able to express myself as I would like. When you are a citizen and you don't agree with the system, you are a "liberal." When you're undocumented and you don't agree, you are a "terrorist."
If they stripped me of my citizenship, I'd lose my job at the packaging company, which gives me medical and dental benefits and a 401k plan. I would have to work into old age -- retirement would never be an option. I would not be able to get credit, so a nice car or a house would be beyond my reach. I might be at the mercy of a bad employer who would try to hustle me.
These essential things -- a job, a house, a future -- are the American way of living. Take away my citizenship and I'd lose all that too. But even if they took away my documents, I am an American.
With or without documents, my mother is too -- as American as they come. She is always sending money to the war veterans and cancer foundations. She even likes playing Texas Hold 'Em. She works 20 hours a day, seven days a week, trying to save money to pay her immigration lawyer.
The Citizenship Reform Act makes me think of those bad horror movies from the 1950s, except instead of evil space aliens it features evil immigrant aliens. The fear that drives it is ironic. This country -- now supposedly protecting its people from immigrants -- was built by, and is still held up by, immigrants.
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User Comments
Brad Lawrence on Apr 07, 2006 at 10:22:51 said:
The writers comments would true if this was the wild west and there were boats coming over unregulated by the government and the people of THIS country.
Unfortunately for him, this is the 21st century and this country has become overcrowded with people who consistantly take from the taxpayer and lower the wage scale of the people who ARE citizens of this country.
I am a master carpenter, and my old boss laid me off because he could get Mexicans to do the job for 12 dollars an hour while my union demanded $24.
As a result I am out of work and the job is getting done by less skilled workers.
I know this is anecdotal, but my story is repeated over and over across the country.
The clause in the 14th amendment that states that the person must be subject to the jurisdiction thereof means just that, subject to the laws of THIS nation. If you are a citizen of another country and you must be subject to THEIR laws. One only must obey the laws of this country whist in this country.
If an illegal commits murder, and manages to get back into HIS country, in this case Mexico, the Mexican government won't extradict him because this country has the death penalty. If he were an AMERICAN citizen, however, they would have no recourse. Ergo, the illegal is NOT subject to our laws.
IF the Mexican wouldn't insist on speaking his native tongue while in this country, of demanding that our schools teach their kids in Spanish, weren't using the emergency rooms as a doctors office, and stopped waving THEIR countries flag around while protesting OUR laws while here illegally, maybe I would have some sympathty for their plight.
But as it stands, the illegal alien is a blight on this nation, diluting our culture while demanding benefits which they have no right to, and the idiot politicians let them.
So go forth illegal, and never darken my door again.
domingo arong on Mar 08, 2006 at 15:07:02 said:
Under the Citizenship Clause, to be a citizen of the United States, one must be "person born ... in the United States" with no mention of parentage at all.
The phrase "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" is enclosed within a pair of commas.
Basic English grammar rules define the enclosed phrase as "non-restrictive" which means that the phrase is "non-essential" and can thus be removed without changing the meaning of the main clause.
The phrase actually refers to a SECOND category of citizens of the United States--"[All persons] subject to the jurisdiction thereof" joined to the frist category--"All persons born or naturalized in the United States"--by the coordinating conjunction "and."
The Citizenship Clause therefore consists of a COMPOUND subject conferring U.S. citizenship to TWO categories of citizens of the United States--Persons (1) "born or naturalized IN THE UNITED STATES" and (2) "subject to the jurisdiction thereof"--or in territory over which the United States exercises the rights of sovereignty and jurisdiction or over which the constitutional power of the United States extends.
Jim Roberts on Feb 28, 2006 at 01:28:24 said:
Enough is enough, what is never discussed when talking about illegals is the negative impact they have on the working poor in America. From wage depression to burdened emergency rooms to over crowded classrooms and billions of dollars flowing south through Western Union, it is time for Mexican nationals to stay home and demand change in way Mexico operates.
Jean Brown Harrell, formerly Garcia on Feb 23, 2006 at 06:37:43 said:
NEWSFLASH:
-->ANCHOR BABIES ARE NOT U.S. CITIZENS!!!
The authors of the 14th Amendment stated in Congress [and it is on the public records of the Congress' debate on the 14th Amendment], that it would not apply to "foreigners, aliens" but would apply to every other class of person. They further made it clear that the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof [of the U.S.] did NOT apply to people who are physically in the U.S. ONLY but are still subject to the jurisdiction of their home country at the same time and STILL owe allegiance to their home country and they made it clear that this phrase also meant that it ONLY applied to a person who did NOT owe allegiance to a foreign government and was physically present in the U.S. at time of birth: for example a LEGAL resident or a U.S. citizen's native-born children. The 14th Amendment has been illegally and unconstitutionally twisted to unconstitutionally and illegally give phony "U.S. citizenship" to children of illegal aliens who have no constitutional, legal or moral right to it or even to be here and therefore have NO rights at all except the right to be deported and be treated humanely.
I thought it allowed illegal-alien babies born on U.S. soil to get citizenship but no, it is very clear that the 14th Amendment PROHIBITS giving U.S. citizenship to anchor babies of illegal aliens which are born on U.S. soil but the U.S. Supreme Court needs to rule on this but someone needs to bring a class-action lawsuit to clear up this matter as the Supreme Court has never had an opportunity to rule on this matter.
I used to be married to a former-illegal alien from Mexico and I was a farmworker for half my life.