Children Born To Illegal Immigrant Parents in The US - Essay Example

Citizenship of children born to illegal immigrant parents in the United s Introduction According to the statistics, 300,000 to 400,000 children are born to the illegal immigrates in the United States of America. Despite the illegal status of the parent, the United States government recognizes them as U.S citizens. The same also appliesto the children who are born to the aliens or the tourists who are present in the United States. The United States government has allowed the practice of automatic bright right citizenship without considering the legality or the duration of the mother’s presence. Scholars and jurists such as Professor Peter Schuck have questioned the functionality of the 14t Amendment. The law has become the de facto law of the land because there is no input from the American public. Births of the illegal have expanded rapidly in the recent years from 2.3 million to 4 million in 2003 and 2008 respectively. The research proposal focuses on analyzing the status of the citizenship of children born to illegal immigrants’ parents, and what the public thinks about them in the United States(Chavez 21). Literature review According to the right of the soil or jus soil law, children who are born in the American soil are granted the right to become American citizens regardless of the status of the mother (Will 2). There are different countries that practice the jus soil law. They include Argentina, Pakistan, Canada, and Mexico. Other countries using the right of blood or jus sanguine, meaning that the child born must have an ancestor who is a citizen of the state. In countries such as Germany, children can become citizens of that country if their parents have lived in that country for more than eight years. A report done by nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center, states that nearly 10 percent of the U.S births are from illegal mothers. Additionally, the undocumented immigrants make up to 4 percent of the population. As a result, 340, 000 of the 4.3 million children were born in the United States in 2008. The undocumented immigrant population varies between 10 and 12 million (Feere 2). The population has increased as a result of stricter border enforcement and a weak economy. Most of the undocumented immigrants come from Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, South Korea, and India. Statistics shows that California has the largest number of the undocumented immigrants. Statistics further show that half of the babies born in California are born to the illegal immigrants mothers (Goo 2). In the Fourth Amendment Citizenship Clause, the first section states that all the persons in the United States of America are subject to the Jurisdiction. That means that not every person born in the United States is automatically a citizen in that state. The 14th Amendment policy also arose debates among the American citizens (Goo 3). Some said that the amendment meant that a mother would give birth to a child in the American soil, and the child would become an American citizen automatically. There was also social security component thatis attached to the issue; for instance Anwar al-Awlaki an American-born cleric became one of the operational planners of the terrorists’ activities. Steve King also introduced a bill in which one of the child’s parents is supposed to be a U.S citizen. There was also an introduction of the Immigration and the Nationality Act, which clearly defined the Birthright Citizenship in U.S.A. Some of the critics argue that the reform could be changed. For instance, Eastman argues that any child that is born on the US soil to the parents that are temporary visitors to the U.S country, were not entitled to the claim of birthright that is provided by the 1866 Act (Feere 2). Some of the critics also argued that a child cannot sponsor the parents to become the U.S until the children turn 21 years. Thus, having a secure child citizenship for the parents may take extremely long period. Aims/Objectives 1. To determine the status of citizenship of children born to illegal immigrants parents 2. To access what the country thinks about the children born to the illegal immigrant parents 3. To find out the impact of the children born to illegal immigrant parents in the United States of America. Research Questions 1. What is the status of citizenship of children born to illegal immigrants’ parents in U.S.A? 2. What does the country think about the children born to the illegal immigrant parents in U.S.A? 3. What is the impact of the children born to illegal immigrant parents in the United States of America? Methodology Interviews To get the views of the United States citizens about the citizenship of the children born to the illegal immigrants’ parents, I will need to carry out several interviews. The interview will be done in various forms. The first form will be face-to-face so that I can get the first-hand information about the situation at hand. Interview via the advanced technological tools will also be administered and recorded for future reference for instance Skype. The mixed method will be used to administer the questions. This willconsist of the open-ended and the closed-ended questions so that data to be analyzed can be collected appropriately. Case studies Case studies are one of the most convenient method of data collection that can be used in this case. The case studies will mainly focus on the research cases that have been done by different individuals on the children born to the illegal immigrants’ parents. The case studies will also give an analytical analysis of the various situations of the situation and the way different individuals have dealt with it. The case studies will also provide detailed information on the issues of the children who are born to the illegal immigrants’ parents. Significance Through the research, one will learn the benefits that the immigrants get from the child that is born to an illegal immigrant parents. It will also analyze the situation of the immigrants and their future. According to the law, the illegal immigrants, are not supposed to get access to the benefits that the Americans refer to as welfare. However, on behalf of the U.S born child, the immigrants can obtain benefits such as the food stamps and the Medicaid. A child that is born in U.S can initiate the chain immigration. When the child turns 21, he can sponsor the parents and the relatives to gain citizenship in the United States of American. As a result, there will be an increase in population. This in turn impacts negatively on the economy of the nation. Most of the immigrants live below the poverty line, and they are not in a position to meet their basic needs. Work cited Chavez, Linda. "The Case For Birthright Citizenship." The Wall Street Journal (2010): 21-25. Document . Feere, Jon. "Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A Global Comparison ." Center for Immigration Studies (2010): 1-3. Document . Goo, Sara Kehaulani. "What Americans want to do about illegal immigration." Pew Research Center (2015): 1-3. Document . Will, George F. "An argument to be made about immigrant babies and citizenship." The Washington Post (2010): 1-3. Newspaper . Read More