When kids are born here illegally, why doesn't the U.S. make it so that the children are also illegal?

Question

in other words, when an illegal comes from south america or mexico, and they have a child here, why isn't the child also declared illegal by way of the parent? or why doesn't the government deport the parent or even the parent and child together instead of allowing them to stay?

Answer 1

because the baby is an american,not by blood but by born...the law says so,that if the wife or kids of an illegal person is american,they can get the american residence easier,but with the baby is because the baby really needs of care and change of environment could become a problem for it...

Answer 2

because they were born in US land? And the U.S. wants immigrants here

Answer 3

14 amendment: Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws

Now at the time written the phrase "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" a foreign national giving birth in the US was considered under the jurisdiction of their country of origin. So if a Canadian couple came to the US and had a child the child would be Canadian. Citizenship would have to be legally applied for and granted. Somewhere along the line things got screwed up and the idiot politicians say everybody gets citizenship!

By the way the vast majority of countries require you to get your citizenship by inheriting t from your parents irregardless of where you were born.

Answer 4

They are made citizens because of the wording of the 14th amendment. They are considered "under the jurisdiction of the US". Senator Howard Jacobs, who drafted the 14th amendment, clarified that phrase to mean "it will not, of course, include persons born in the Us who are foreign or aliens" unfortunately our government chooses to ignore his intent and continues to allow anchor baby citizenship.

Answer 5

It doesn't matter where the parents are from. When a child is born here on American land the child is American. If you think they should change the constitution for that then they should also chance some immigration laws while they are at it.  

Answer 6

Because of the fresh start nonsense. Some of the 9/11 terrorists were probably anchor babies.

Answer 7

First of all, whoever was born in US and naturalized in US is US Citizen according to US Constitution 14th Amendment. That's how you became US Citizen also.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/m...

Secondly, US Government doesn't allow illegal parents to stay. They are staying in US illegally against the law and they are totally deportable. However, the government cannot deport the child who is US Citizen just because the parents is illegal. That why we now have huge problem with illegal or undocument immigrants.

Answer 8

n**i ideas at their best

Answer 9

There is the problem!  The laws need to be changed so that you are only granted citizenship if you are born the legal working immigrants or to an American citizen!  If they would change the law, you would see fewer people sneaking over here to have "anchor babies".  This way they would not receive social services etc!  But good luck getting the government to do anything that is in the best interest of the country!

Answer 10

A certificate of birth in the US is proof of US citizenship.

There is no such thing as an "illegal" or "legal" birth like you hinted at. Birth to an illegal immigrant is not illegal. It's just birth.

If you've ever seen a birth certificate, you'll note that the record does not include immigration information on either the father or the mother -- just their names. It is not the job of midwives and obstetricians to check a mother's legal papers when she delivers; they don't have the necessary training or authority, and they can't refuse the mother medical attention anyway (see the whole Hippocratic Oath thing). They don't have time to deal with that, either.

Based on that, how do you determine if a child is born to a legal or an illegal immigrant?

Should we have an immigration officer attend every birth?

See where I'm going with this?

Basically what you're suggesting is unfeasible and unreasonable, not to mention unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court's decision in U.S. vs. Wong Kim Ark from over 100 years ago. That ruling has become a little ambiguous today because the problem of "illegal immigration" was virtually nonexistent at the time. Maybe you should encourage US legislators to reconsider how this all works. The core of the "problem" is the fact that birth certificates are considered proof of citizenship. Most European countries have done away with such a system. Maybe the US retains it so as to keep alive the idea of the US being a land of opportunities. Indeed being a US citizen is, by itself, an opportunity.

Please note: parents of "anchor babies" do get deported quite a lot and are required to either take their kids with them, or leave them in foster care, or leave them with family members in the US. The latter option is common because that allows them to come back to the US legally when the kid reaches the age of 21 and petitions for their parents to come to the US. Since the child is a US citizen they cannot deport them, but leave the parents with the above options.