U.S. citizenship - Assignment Example

U.S. Citizenship For many decades, children have been born in the United s by their parents who lacked proper citizenship, which would make their children illegal citizens in their new home. It was not until the last few years that this became an issue due to immigration and birthright reformation in Arizona, which has spread to other states throughout the country. Some people believe that the children of these illegal immigrants should be granted United States citizenship, feeling that the children should not be punished for the illegal actions of their parents.

However, there are even more people that are convinced that children should not be granted citizenship since they were born of parents who were illegally in the country. The primary reason as to why children born of parents illegally in the United States should not be granted citizenship is because many of these parents purposely have their children on American soil in attempts to obtain citizenship for themselves. Commonly referred to as anchor babies, “these children are thought to only serve the purpose of allowing their parents to be granted citizenship since the children were technically American-born (Williams, 2008)”.

As such, the parents believe that they are entitled to citizenship so that they may be able to keep their children in the country they were born in. Many citizens of the United States are reluctant to grant citizenship to any party involved in using a child for citizenship purposes, including the child. If children were granted citizenship under this concept, the parents would be rewarded for committing an illegal act. People in favor of granting citizenship to children born in the United States to illegal parents believe that, by denying citizenship to the children, their rights will be violated in accordance to the Constitution.

However, the Constitution only applies to those that are legal residents of the United States (Newton, 2008). If just one parent of the child is a legal citizen, then the child would stand a chance of obtaining citizenship. As long as both parents are illegally in the United States, them and their child have no rights in this country, and therefore no opportunity of receiving automatic citizenship. They cannot depend on their innocent, dependent children to do something that they are capable of doing on their own.

When parents are illegally in the United States have children, they, along with their children, should either be deported back to their country of origin or begin the processes needed to obtain citizenship, a work visa, or a green card. “Parents should not rely on their children to be shortcuts to receiving their citizenship and they should be punished for doing such (Yoshikawa, 2011).” While it is not a crime to use children to obtain citizenship, parents should still be held responsible for not going the proper and legal route for receiving their citizenship.

They should be instructed on how to rightfully get their citizenship and then wait it out like others in similar positions. In many cases, children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally are often left alone in regard to citizenship. It is not until they attempt to enter college, collect financial aid, or apply for a job that their lack of citizenship becomes a problem (Bascio, 2009). However, the children, now adults, should not be handed their citizenship due to an action of their parents; as adults, they should now be able to apply for citizenship on their own just as any other person seeking citizenship in the United States.

There comes a point when the blame needs to be passed from the parents to the adult ‘child’ for not being a citizen since they have the power to do it themselves, much as their parents before them had the opportunity to seek citizenship instead of relying on their children. Children should not be granted automatic citizenship simply because their parents broke the law by illegally entering the United States and giving birth to said children. This would condone the illegal actions of the parents, allowing them to get what they want by skirting around the rules that others have no choice but to follow.

The parents in these cases should be reprimanded for attempting to take the easiest way, albeit illegal, in obtaining citizenship for themselves. Furthermore, they cannot use the United States Constitution to protect them unless one or both of the parents are legal citizens. Until that time, parents need to consider applying for citizenship so that they do not ruin potentially great futures for their children. References Bascio, P. (2009). On the immorality of illegal immigration (2nd ed.). Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

Newton, L. (2008). Illegal, alien, or immigrant. New York: New York University Press. Williams, J. M. (2008). Children and citizenship. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications. Yoshikawa, H. (2011). Immigrants raising citizens: Undocumented parents and their young children. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.