There is a great deal of debate in the news about immigration, and how people come here to have what is called an "anchor baby." An anchor baby is a child born in America to foreign parents. The child has automatic American citizenship, so can come and go in America as he or she pleases. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates there are between 285,000 and 365,000 children in the United States that are classified "anchor babies." That indicates a huge number of people who have immigrated here and had children. But, what is the real issue that turns Americans against these immigrants?
Some are against people who migrate here, especially when they are already pregnant, just to gain the status of being American. It's true; a lot of people do come here for a better life, a new start in a land where they can be free and accepted unconditionally. This is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
Some Americans are against the 14th Amendment. They claim that immigrants "they come here take up our jobs, abuse our system for welfare and money, and drive prices up for housing. In Staten Island, I have found most of this to be true. In Port Richmond, for example, to rent a normal apartment or house is more expensive than renting a house in Willowbrook, but Willowbrook is, by far, a better neighborhood.
Do you know why this is true? Most poor American families can barely afford a apartment in today's economy. Meanwhile, immigrant families come here and rent a house in Port Richmond. They sometimes put 12 or more people in a single apartment, so the landlord is guaranteed to get the rent -- even if they all work off the books -- due to the amount of people who live there, and are splitting the rent. Unlike in the impoverished American household; only four or five people live in the house, and usually only one or two have jobs.
It is said that "anchor baby" citizenship does not pay off until age 21. Why is this? A parent who has a so-called "anchor baby" cannot sponsor their child to be an American citizen until the age of 21. Even though these immigrants come here and have "anchor babies," they don't realize that they can still be deported; they are still illegal immigrants, and have still broken our laws.
Our 14th Amendment states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States..." This was written in 1868, but this amendment has now become a battleground on what exactly is true about American birthright and citizenship.
Many politicians and court cases have raged over this issue. The great argument about the 14th Amendment and what it states is this; this amendment was written after the Civil War, and was intended to ensure that the states provided former slaves equal rights. What should that Amendment mean to us now? Our forefathers wrote it in a different time; how do we interpret this to make it useful in today's society? That is still yet to be seen, and the battle rages on; not only among our most important leaders, but among ourselves as well.
Americans also have to see the flip side of this. Immigrants are people who come here and "take jobs from us" usually, they take the jobs Americans will not do; mowing lawns, digging trenches, washing dishes, picking fruit, and so on. Most work for much less than minimum wage, and work long days; sometimes 12 hours or more. They come to America, use what money they need to live on, and send a lot of their money to their families overseas to help improve their lives.
Is that really so wrong?
Many Americans are outraged, but they refuse to work some of these jobs. If we won't take these jobs, why should we get angry at these immigrants when they do? We as the American people have to think about that. Also, not all people come here to abuse our system.
The debate will rage on both sides of the issue, and nobody will be able to foresee the outcome. We have to think about the big picture. We have to be the great country we always have been, and unify in order to come to a fair decision on this subject; not only for the sake of our immigrants, but also for our own people. We need to come up with a way to not only be fair with our rights and equalities, but also come up with a way to protect our system from abuse, to protect the hard-earned money we Americans put into our system. So I leave you, with this thought…
Where do you stand?