Born in the USA: but should that make you a citizen?
“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States… with all of those benefits.” So declared Donald Trump last week, explaining why, as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration, he may sign an executive order ending the automatic right to US citizenship for those born on US soil. Contrary to the president’s statement, birthright citizenship is not unique to the US, said Yasmeen Serhan and Uri Friedman in The Atlantic. More than 30 other countries have a similar system, including Canada, Brazil, Lesotho and Pakistan. Many other countries, including the UK, Australia and France, used to have forms of birthright citizenship, but have amended or revoked their laws over recent decades. Most now require at least one parent to be a lawful resident of their country before conferring citizenship on babies.
There’s a good reason why every other advanced economy that has experienced mass immigration, bar Canada, has tighter naturalisation laws than the US, said The Washington Examiner. It’s right, of course, that children born to permanent residents should acquire automatic citizenship. But why should that same privilege be extended to children whose parents sneaked into the country illegally, or who just happened to be passing through? If US birth is an accident of timing, or a deliberate gaming of the system through “birth tourism”, it shouldn’t be rewarded. The US needs to scrap this outdated system.
Trump has pledged to do just that, by issuing an executive order, said Marc A. Thiessen in The Washington Post. But most legal experts believe that would be impossible owing to the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which declares: “All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” It’s ironic that many conservatives who are sticklers for an “originalist” reading of the Constitution when it comes to issues such as gun rights are now seeking to reinterpret that clause. They’re wrong to do so. The 14th Amendment was introduced to grant citizenship to former slaves, and helped establish America as an egalitarian, democratic nation. The way to prevent illegal migrants abusing the system is to stop them entering the US illegally in the first place. “Strengthen border security. Build the wall. But leave the Constitution alone.”