- A recent article in the Houston Chronicle discusses the
problem of so-called anchor babies, children born in U.S. hospitals to
illegal immigrant parents. These children automatically become citizens,
and thus serve as an anchor for their parents to remain in the country.
Our immigration authorities understandably are reluctant to break up families
by deporting parents of young babies. But birthright citizenship, originating
in the 14th amendment, has become a serious cultural and economic dilemma
for our nation.
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- In some Houston hospitals, administrators estimate that
70 or 80% of the babies born have parents who are in the country illegally.
As an obstetrician in south Texas for several decades, I can attest to
the severity of the problem. It's the same story in California, Arizona,
and New Mexico. And the truth is most illegal immigrants who have babies
in U.S. hospitals do not have health insurance and do not pay their hospital
bills.
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- This obviously cannot be sustained, either by the hospitals
involved or the taxpayers who end up paying the bills.
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- No other wealthy, western nations grant automatic citizenship
to those who simply happen to be born within their borders to non-citizens.
These nations recognize that citizenship involves more than the physical
location of one's birth; it also involves some measure of cultural connection
and allegiance. In most cases this means the parents must be citizens of
a nation in order for their newborn children to receive automatic citizenship.
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- Make no mistake, Americans are happy to welcome immigrants
who follow our immigration laws and seek a better life here. America is
far more welcoming and tolerant of newcomers than virtually any nation
on earth. But our modern welfare state creates perverse incentives for
immigrants, incentives that cloud the issue of why people choose to come
here. The real problem is not immigration, but rather the welfare state
magnet.
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- Hospitals bear the costs when illegal immigrants enter
the country for the express purpose of giving birth. But illegal immigrants
also use emergency rooms, public roads, and public schools. In many cases
they are able to obtain Medicaid, food stamps, public housing, and even
unemployment benefits. Some have fraudulently collected Social Security
benefits.
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- Of course many American citizens also use or abuse the
welfare system. But we cannot afford to open our pocketbooks to the rest
of the world. We must end the perverse incentives that encourage immigrants
to come here illegally, including the anchor baby incentive.
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- I've introduced legislation that would amend the Constitution
and end automatic birthright citizenship. The 14th amendment was ratified
in 1868, on the heels of the Civil War. The country, especially the western
territories, was wide open and ripe for homesteading. There was no welfare
state to exploit, and the modern problems associated with immigration could
not have been imagined.
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- Our founders knew that unforeseen problems with our system
of government would arise, and that's precisely why they gave us a method
for amending the Constitution. It's time to rethink birthright citizenship
by amending the 14th amendment.
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- http://www.freemarketnews.com/Analysis/110/6099/ron.asp?nid=6099&wid=110&pv=1
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