American Citizenship Should Be a Birthright The United States is one of the countries in the world with the most liberal citizenship system. The United States in the birth of citizenship issues on the birthplace of the principle, known as the "landing nationality" principle. That is, all babies born in the United States are automatically become US citizens. Citizenship birthright is a controversial topic, usually associated with illegal immigrants. An illegal immigrant is defined as a person that has entered the country without official authorization such as an immigrant visa ("Illegal Immigrant Law & Legal Definition"). He or she is a person that crosses the border by avoiding inspection and overstays in the country by extending the period …show more content…
In fact, residents who enter the country from the southern or northern border are allowed permanent residence and self-naturalization after a certain period of time. It was only after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that the first immigration act was implemented to exclude a particular group of individuals, citing their allegiance to the Chinese emperor and not the USA government (Chavez). Through the law led to rampant racism and public disapproval of the Chinese laborers who went to the United States looking for wealth. Similarly, the majority of illegal immigrants moved to the United States to seek better wealth to support themselves and their families, also make a significant contribution to the country 's economy. Repealing their citizenship would require the alleviation of the ‘citizenship by birth’ legislation and call for a standard method to determine a person’s citizenship through other means such as the right of blood, also known as “Jus Sanguinis”, which means “right of blood”. If birthright citizenship is eliminated, people born in the United States will find it necessary to use the complex rules of citizenship by blood, and as a result, most individuals will not qualify for visas because a majority of them cannot trace their ancestry. In addition, it would take …show more content…
Most people believe that the nation is hurting due to high population issues such as high crime rates, overestimated insurance policies and costly health care. Studies have shown that illegal immigrant women have the highest birth rate in the country, which has leading to a significant increase in the population. It is estimated that by 2050 the population will reach an average of 17 million, including a large number of population problems, including inadequate housing, an expensive economy, the development and construction of temporary shelters and food problems. At present, the majority of those who support the the amendment of the birthright law argue that the country is already grappling with problems of hikes in housing rates and health issues such as obesity. They pointed out that curbing the country 's immigration crisis could help to solve some of these problems. These people do not understand the seriousness of their consequences. First, the economy will fall as a result of reduced taxes, so the IRS will be forced to increase taxes in order to stabilize it. Furthermore, most illegal immigrants do not receive public benefits and welfare benefits. A large proportion of them also pay taxes, which is equivalent to paying for their stay in the country. From a
In 1790, there was Naturalization Act in United States that questioned who was able to receive the term citizenship. The Naturalization Act states that only free white people are eligible for citizenship. After the Naturalization Act, there has been movement, daily action, and protest from people of color, and white women. Politically, socially, and economically, white men hold dominance in United States for many years. Thus for that many years, the people of color and women would fight for their political, social, and economical rights in United States. These actions were done differently with each racial group, as they are in different hierarchical status. As “Benedict Anderson viewed the Nation as “imagined communities”—in the sense that they are systems of cultural representation whereby people come to imagine a shared experience of identification with an extended community.” (McClintock, 353) The passage talked about culture imperialism. The idea of how the society is structured was taught to the people through their culture, such as in religion, missionaries, and education. Therefore, many of the people of color and women fought to achieve the notion of nationality in United States.
Some viewpoints assert that if a person is in the United States illegally, he should have no rights and no benefits. Proponents justify this position by blaming illegal immigration for economic hardships, such as increasing health care costs, for the American people. This attitude is simply inaccurate. Many undocumented immigrants do contribute to the economies of the federal, state and local governments through taxes and can stimulate job growth. However, the cost of providing healthcare impacts federal, state, and local governments differently.
In America, there are many considerable companies created by immigrants during the height of immigration. During the early 1900s, the American Dream was in full swing and patriotism was found amongst most Americans. During this time, Americans had a sense of vivaciousness when talking about America and the economy. With the roaring 20s and significant economic growth in the 1910s, many non-natives flocked to America in search of a better life. However, as time went on and America’s economy started to adjust, the American Dream and patriotism of indigenous Americans also evolved. Bogged down with the aftermath of the Great Depression in the 1930s, second and third generation Americans fell out of love with America. Immigrants kept hope though,
In the U. S today, the approximated population of undocumented immigrants stands at averagely 11 million. Therefore, this has created a hot debate in Congress about the action to take over the undocumented immigrants. Those opposed to illegal immigrants suggest that, their stay in the United States effects U.S citizens on the job market negatively . In addition, illegal immigrants are viewed in certain quarters as takers in the sense that illegal immigrants benefit more from public resources than the american-born citizens of the U.S. However, the reality is that immigrants contribute positively to the U.S economy and pay significantly into the system compared to what they send back home. In addition, the contributions associated with undocumented immigrants involve sustaining the solvency of the SSTF (Social Security Trust Fund). In this sense, the use of cost benefit analysis by those supporting immigration restrictions are unfounded and do not reflect the facts on the ground (Nadadur 1037). The opponents of undocumented immigrants believe that having more undocumented immigrants in the U.S is costly; however, there are no solid reasons to prove that undocumented immigrants are a burden to the treasury. Instead, the undocumented immigrants play an important role in boosting the economy and in particular by taking up jobs those citizens perceive as demeaning because the money they earn goes back to the economy through taxes resulting from consumer spending when they send money back home.
A Path to Citizenship “What makes someone American isn’t just blood or birth but allegiance to our founding principles and faith in the idea that anyone from anywhere can write the next chapter of our story.” - President Barack Obama. The United States is the melting pot of the world. The great American country was built on immigration. Look around, so many people have ancestors that risked everything to come to the United States to make something of their lives, and the lives of their children.
Immigrants were first welcomed in the late 1700s. European explorers like Walter Raleigh, Lord Baltimore, Roger William, William Penn, Francis Drake, John Smith, and others explored to the New World for religious purposes and industrial growth. The first European settlers that settled in the late 1700s were the Pilgrims. After the Pilgrims first settled in Virginia, the expansion of immigrants started. Then in 1860 to 1915, America was growing with its industries, technology, and education. America’s growing empire attracted many people from Europe. The factors that attracted many people to the American cities where job opportunities with higher income, better education, and factory production growth. As the population grew in the American
The country of Canada is known for its celebration of diverse population and multiculturalism. For years foreigners have been immigrating to Canada to find better opportunities for themselves and their families. Citizenship offers protection of human rights and freedoms including mobility and equality among others, under the Charter. (Canadian Charter, 1982, s 6(2)(b)) The status of Canadian citizenship first started with the official Citizen Act in 1947, which distinguished Canada from other parts of the British Commonwealth. “Before 1947, residents of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand could without limitation immigrate to Canada whenever they chose … Canadians had the same rights to move to those countries and exercise political rights” (Dickerson, Flanagan & O'Neill, 2009). As the country has become more developed, the state of immigration has changed with it. The process of obtaining legal citizenship today is varied according to the applicants’ circumstances. The current state of immigration into Canada is shaped by these paths to citizenship.
The ideal of American citizenship was not only if you were legal in America, but the ideal that you have the values and rights of a citizen. Unregulated capitalism and the ultimate change in government regulations in big business led to a change in the ideal of citizenship. With the start of big business in America the theory of unregulated capitalism was tested for the first time. In this paper I will discuss the ideal of what a citizen was before the great depression with unregulated capitalism, and the changing from no regulations to some, and the after effect this had.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of immigrants, legal and illegal, from around the world, come to the United States. These immigrants come because they want a chance at a better life; others are refugees, escaping persecution and civil wars in their home country. Many people believe the United States is the best place to go. There is more freedom, protection, and benefits, which seems like a good deal to immigrants. But the large number of immigration is affecting the current citizens of the United States. Taxpayers are forced to pay for the welfare and schooling for many of these immigrants, some who are illegal aliens. Some citizens believe that immigration can be hazardous to the environment. Others blame crime, poverty, and overpopulation on immigration. About sixty-eight million immigrants have been added to the United States since 1970, and it is estimated that 130 million people will be added over the next fifty years. The government has tried somewhat to restrict immigration but the laws are still too lenient. Nearly every other advanced country in the world is moving quickly towards stabilized population or has already achieved it. The United States is moving towards it very slowly. This country would have to reduce immigration down to 255,000 a year to do this (Beck 1). If nothing is done to stabilize the immigration to this country, what will become of population in the next decade? The population will continue to grow even faster - not due to births, but to massive immigration to this country. Immigration can become a serious problem to this country if the government does not produce stricter laws.
We don’t realize how hard it is for immigrant parents to get their children education, and we judge and hate on something we have never been through. I guess it’s true you never know someone’s pain unless you go through it. Not everyone has the same privileges as others, some have to work twice as hard to try to give their children an opportunity towards an education on the contrary some American families have it simpler. I not blaming people who have families who were born here or say it’s wrong, but many people tend to affront children of immigrant parents and feel like they have the equitableness to say they aren’t suitable to receive public education.
The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2) While some argue that illegal immigrants burden the United States of America and its economy, others believe that they have become essential and are an important part of the US, economy.
One negative of illegal immigration is that the immigrants take advantage of tax benefits. Over 59% of illegal immigrants are uninsured (Ruark). This low rate of insurance comes despite a higher use of Medicaid than U.S. citizens. Around 24% of immigrants use Medicaid compared to only 14% of Americans using Medicaid (Ruark). Immigrants pay less in taxes than they receive in government benefits. This places a burden on native taxpayers (Hanson). Immigrant households in some states are more numerous relative to the native population. This means the immigrants have more children causing them to use public education more. Illegals earn lower wages which means they have lower tax payments while having a greater use of public benefits (Hanson). An example of this was in California and New Jersey where the “NRC estimates that the short-run fiscal impact of immigration was negative in New Jersey and in California” this was due to these reasons of taking advantage of public benefits (Hanson).
Immigration has always been a large conflict people have faced all across the world. There are plenty of reasons why people migrate to a country, whether it may be the United States or any other particular one. Many people often come in an attempt to escape poverty, crime, or to simply have a better opportunity to better their lifestyle. Although there are people who migrate and commit severe crimes, there are others who sacrifice themselves in order to live a better life. In addition to that, I believe the government should approve new immigration laws in favor of immigrants who come to better their life and achieve their dreams.
To truly understand why women or why some women continue to accept their second class citizenship status to men, one must become aware of the lived experiences of these women. As Patti Lather suggests, people must be the narrators of their own stories (Critical inquiry in qualitative research: Feminist and poststructural perspectives: Science “after truth”). Until we become aware of these perceived “second class” citizens’ stories, we are only left to postulate based on our own experiences.
A child reunites with his or her mother for the first time in forever, put yourself in their shoes and imagine what it would be like. How would you feel? Immigration has been an important and frequently debated topic in the U.S. because of many people migrate here legally and illegally and the effects it has in the country, but first what is immigration? According to the Oxford dictionary, Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. In the last few years, a lot has changed with the Immigration policy in the United States. According to American Immigration Council (AIC), the body of law governing current immigration policy, provides for an annual worldwide limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants, with certain exceptions for close family members (AIC, 2014). Everyone has different opinions about the change, but I am more interested in the reason behind why people migrate to United