If Republicans were to have it their way, they would be the stripping the rights of 340,000 citizens simply because of who their parents are.
A study released yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 340,000 of the 4.3 million babies born in the United States in 2008 were born to undocumented immigrants. Overall, the total number stands at about 4 million.
In recent weeks, several top Republican lawmakers including Arizona Senator John McCain and House Minority Leader John Boehner have called for congressional hearings to reconsider birthright citizenship. Under the 14th amendment, citizenship is guaranteed to anyone born within the United States or its territories. Critics claim the law allows undocumented immigrants to use their children for benefits and to gain legal status.
“The first time I heard that, I was on my way to work, and that just broke my heart and made me sick to my stomach,” said Brenda Narvaez, a Miami High School student whose mother is an undocumented immigrant. “All the time my mother has told me go to school, make something of yourself and you will be able to have a better life. But they want to take that away.”
Others, such as Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, an organization in Washington, D.C. that advocates for a reduction in immigration, say there are practical reasons why pro-enforcement advocates focus on the children.
“These children are immediately eligible for every single social program, and it matters because illegal immigrants tend to be quite poor,” Camarota said. “There is a fiscal issue that matters when it comes to eligibility to everything from food stamps to Medicaid.”
A community organizer with the Florida Immigrant Coalition in Miami, Subhash Kateel, points to the study as evidence that Immigrants have become a part of American society.
“They are people who have been here for years and are part of the community,” Kateel said. “The discussion of taking away citizenship is unconstitutional, un-American and flat-out racist.”
We as people need to think political fairness when it comes to people, not races.