Introduction
Birthright Citizenship Act deals with an individual’s acquirement of US citizenship because of his or her birth on the American soil. The issue of American citizenship is a subject of US federal law. Citizenship clause under fourteenth amendment of the American constitution deals with the US citizenship. This law provides US citizenship to everyone who born on the American soil. A large number of Americans including various congressmen believe that this law should be amended. Birthright citizenship Act has been introduced several times in the US congress in order to amend the original Act.
Birthright Citizenship Act has ignited a debate that seems to be unending. There is a difference of opinions among Americans on this issue. Since this issue is related to US citizenship, both Americans and non-Americans take high interest in the same (Lee). Some politicians and many Americans believe the existing law should be amended there are a large number of people who are in support of the existing law. They oppose any amendment that alters the existing law. I believe there is no need of passing Birthright Citizenship Act and the existing law deals effectively with this issue. This paper intends to discuss the Birthright Citizenship Act along with discussing why there is no need of such laws.
Brief Explanation of the Law
Section 1 of the fourteenth amendment, US constitution reads as, “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” (Perry, p. 2). Fourteenth amendment was adopted as a part of the American constitution in the year 1868. The citizenship clause of fourteenth amendment deals with issue of citizenship and it overruled opinion of US Supreme Court that African Americans are not citizens of the United States of America and thus they are not entitled to avail any benefits in the country. This amendment provided citizen status to African Americans and others and further made provisions that anyone who is born on the American soil is entitled to the US citizenship status.
The need of discussing and amending this existing law arose when some politicians, as well as, American citizens believed that this issue benefits non- Americans and harm their rights. A number of instances suggested that women traveled into America when they were expecting merely because their new born babies will get US citizenship. This issue attracted attention of people and politicians further fueled up this issue for their political gains. First time a proposal was presented to amend the existing citizenship laws. Some senators demanded to amend the law that deals with the birthright citizenship though a majority of members did not support this proposal. These members believed that doing such is against the constitution of the United States of America. Though the Birthright Citizenship Act is not passed by the congress yet but this issue is alive. The proposal to amend this act was presented by Nathan Deal. Deal’s proposal got 104 co-sponsors. The Number of co-sponsors was decreased substantially when the proposal was presented in the years 2009, 2011 and 2013. Due to lack in the support, this proposal was not passed (McKenzie).
Argument
The bill is not passed by the congress because the majority of policymakers believed that the amendment is against the constitution of America. By adopting fourteenth amendment, American policy makers kept reiterated that America believes in the idea of progressiveness. This nation is for everyone who believes in the democratic setup and secular ideas. The country shelters everyone who believes in performance and creativity. I believe Birthright Citizenship Act is against the idea of US constitution and any amendment in the existing law of citizenship is contrary to the idea of progressiveness.
Those, who oppose the Birthright citizenship, also do not support the right to equality and equal protection in a true sense. Raising such issues creates division in the society. America is the home of people from various communities. People who have obtained citizenship on the basis of existing law may feel detached from the rest of the nation. A large number of people have contributed in the making of America even though they are not Americans, and it is not wise to create any rift in their mind on such trivial issues (McKenzie).
People, who believe in the provisions of the fourteenth amendment, say that since the issue of citizenship is governed by the fourteenth amendment of the American constitution, it is not wise to tamper in these provisions. They argue that this amendment was adopted by the policymakers to deal with the citizenship issue in an effective manner. The contemporary policy makers wanted to give a clear message, and they did not hesitate from even overruling the Supreme Court verdicts for the sake of this issue.
A large number of people believe that raising such issue is nothing more than a political gimmick. People say that politicians do not lose the chance to play politics, but it is not easy to fool Americans. When this issue was initially presented there was ample support in the favor of a proposal that argued to amend the existing law on the citizenship but as time passed and people realized that American constitution does not support such things, the support was decreased substantially. The proposal could not be transformed into a law because it failed in gaining ample support of the congress as well as from the people (Nyers).
Supporters of the citizenship clause of the fourteenth amendment suggest that United States of America was established by immigrants. Today people mock parents who come into America while they are expecting. Such babies are termed as “Anchor babies”. People, who oppose Birthright Citizenship Act, believe that if new born get American citizenship under the legal provisions of the fourteenth amendment, let them be Americans. People ask if these children are born and raised into America and contribute in the development of America once they are adult, what is the harm in it.
Supporters of existing birthright citizenship say that when babies are born in America and obtain American citizenship, there is nothing to worry. A man is not born with a mouth a stomach, but he also comes with his hands. Today America needs the manpower. If people are working and paying the taxes, it benefits the America and not to them only. There is no need to create a brouhaha if they work here and contribute in the development of the United States of America.
Many people including some eminent lawyers believe that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right, and no one can deprive newly born babies of their rights. James Ho, solicitor general of Texas while taking to a newspaper, said that Birthright Citizenship is a constitutional right and the same has been reiterated by the US Supreme Court in a number of cases. The US Supreme Court has decided a number of cases on the basis of existing law on the Birthright Citizenship (Park & Gleeson).
People say that first of all, it is not that easy to amend the provisions of Fourteenth amendment of the US constitution. If somehow politicians manage to do it, there are chances that the American Supreme Court will strike down such efforts of amending these constitutional provisions. US Supreme Court has the responsibility to guard the constitution and can review any law if it thinks that the constitutional provisions are tampered. The birthright citizenship right is a constitutional provision under the supervision of the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
Counter Argument
Since this issue has been raised by politicians, a number of Americans believe that Birthright Citizenship Act should be passed. They believe that existing law is responsible for a large number of immigrants in the United States of America. Americans believe that these immigrants come into America to exploit provisions of the fourteenth amendment. They cite examples of foreigners who come into America when they expect a child just because their new born child will gain American citizenship status. They believe that Birthright Citizenship Act can put a complete curb on such things. People, those argue in favor of passing such laws, suggest that due to increasing number of immigrants and non-Americans, Americans are suffering in different ways. They say that flexible citizenship laws are responsible for such mess, and this should be amended.
Conclusion
Having observed an overview and succinct analysis of the abovementioned subject, this paper concludes that the fourteenth amendment of the American constitution makes provisions about birthright citizenship. Citizenship clause provides US citizenship to anyone who is born on the American territory. Some politicians have raised this issue in a different perspective and demanded to amend the provisions of the existing law on the citizenship. On the other hand, a large number of policy makers, as well as, American citizens believe that amending the provisions of existing birthright citizenship is against the idea of US constitution. The bill was presented in the congress, but it was not passed because the majority of policy makers opposed this proposal. In order to change things, a change is required in the mindset of people and merely by passing laws like Birthright Citizenship Act, nothing can be achieved. Considering all aspects of the issue, I believe Birthright Citizenship Act is an unnecessary exercise and not required.
Works Cited
Lee, Margaret Mikyung. Birthright Citizenship Under the 14th Amendment of Persons Born in the United States to Alien Parents. USA: DIANE Publishing, 2010.
McKenzie, Beatrice Loftus. American at Birth: United States Birthright Citizenship in Nation and Empire, 1866--1934. USA: University of Oregon, 2006.
Nyers, Peter. Securitizations of Citizenship. New York: Routledge, 2009.
Park, J., & Gleeson, S. The Nation and Its Peoples: Citizens, Denizens, Migrants. New York: Routledge, 2014.
Perry, Michael J. We the People the Fourteenth Amendment and the Supreme Court. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1999.
