Another controversial assumption made by advocates who want to see a change in birthright citizenship is that unauthorized immigrants and their U.S. born children place a drain on many social resources. When an unauthorized immigrant has a child born in the U.S., that child has access to all the social resources that U.S. children born to legal citizens are entitled to. It is believed that undocumented immigrants do not pay taxes and come to America with the sole intentions of living on welfare. Evidence provided by the Social Security Administration, contends that there are taxes that cannot be matched to workers’ names and social security numbers. This is also known as a “suspense file” and it has grown by twenty billion dollars in recent years. Migrants and undocumented immigrants contribute more in taxes and social contributions than they will ever receive in individual benefits (Van Hook and Fix 2010). Immigrants earn about $240 billion a year, they pay about $90 billion a year in taxes but only use roughly $5 billion in public benefits (Van Hook and Fix 2010). In …show more content…
Such changes would require that a newborn must provide proof of his/her birth as well as his/her parents legal status at the time of birth. This would place a huge burden on the state government and would make the issuance of birth certificates very expensive. U.S. citizenship and immigration laws are complex and providing proof of a parent’s legal status at the time of the child’s birth can be very difficult. Every American born baby would face a bureaucratic hurdle that would result in the need of legal services. A change in the citizenship clause will cost American households $2.4 billion annually (Stock 153). It is also expected that the change would fall on minorities and the poor because the wealthy and most middle class families would have access to a lawyer, when the poor could not afford to retain
As Americans citizen we enjoy our rights and freedoms as a society. We enjoy our freedom of speech and our right to choose where to live. With all those freedoms also these rights comes with a legal obligation to uphold and to follow the law of our country. Also there are many American citizens moral obligated to exercise their rights but many times of the case Americans citizens are not forces to legally oblige to follow the law. A good example an American citizen has the right to bear arms but also an American citizen also has the right not to own a weapon. It is really important as an American citizen that we understand the pros and cons of voting.
Imagine needing to move to a new country because of violence, limited job opportunities, or an oppressive government. Now imagine finding out it may take up to 20 years to get out of that dangerous environment. This is the reality millions of immigrants trying to come to America face every day. In order to become a US citizen, one must first possess a Green Card for at least 5 years, be at least 18 years of age at the time of filing for citizenship, be able to read, write, and speak basic English, submit an N-400 form, take the US Naturalization Test, and have a personal interview to determine if said immigrant is a person of good moral character. This process takes at least 5 years, and that’s if said immigrant does not run into any troubles with filing. Because of this lengthy process, millions of immigrants, many with
The American Dream is that dream of a nation in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with options for each according to capacity or accomplishments. It is a dream of social stability in which each man and each woman shall be able to achieve to the fullest distinction of which they are essentially competent, and be distinguished by others for what they are, despite of the incidental conditions of birth or stance. People consider America the land of opportunities, a new beginning to a new life in which they can strive and succeed. America is known as the land of the free where if you have the perseverance you can achieve what you want from life. However does the American Dream apply to even those of color equally?
But amazingly, the flow of foreign-born is so large that immigrants currently account for a larger share of labor force growth than natives (“U.S. Immigration and Economic Growth: Putting Policy on Hold”, 2003) When you do the math, it makes a good deal of sense to spend the little that we do—if not more—to keep them healthy (Karvounis, 2007). Care for undocumented immigrants represents a tiny fraction of the nation’s health care burden. They receive minimal care; some pay taxes. Between one half and three quarters of undocumented immigrants pay taxes and some work “off the books” jobs as well (What Immigration Reform Could Mean To The US Economy, 2009). Illegal aliens provide as much as 7 billion dollars a year to the Social Security Fund although they cannot claim benefits for this program (Immigrants’ Economic Contribution, 2009). Further still, undocumented workers pay sales taxes where applicable and property taxes—directly if they own and indirectly if they rent (“Undocumented Immigrants as Taxpayers”, 2007).
Debate over immigration and immigration policy is not new to the nation's history. For a long time, Congress debated legislation to control the immigration problem. As immigration rises and hatred grows more laws will be carried out trying to release some of the pressure. Immigrants offer cheaper labor to businesses. Immigrants do not get minimum wage, but instead they get paid lower, this gives the business an edge over other competitors.
An illegal immigrant, who works for their keep in an unknown country, contributes to taxes, stays out of trouble, and just wants a better life in a foreign country, on unknown land should be recognized for their contribution to that particular society. An illegal immigrant is a person who migrates to a different country in a way that is in violation of the immigrant laws of that country. Immigration has been a divided topic for many years in America- illegal immigrants are sometimes seen as a burden to America, but others view them as an economic savior. There are over 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States and many Americans have mixed views about where there stance should be regarding citizenship. Illegal immigrants
While living illegally in the U.S., their children that are born here are considered citizens and are eligible for social economic programs. According to a report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, “Many immigrant families get welfare through the eligibility of their U.S. citizen children. It is also important to realize that even when immigrants are ineligible for federal welfare programs, the burden of their support is simply shifted over to state and local welfare agencies.”(1-2). Trying to solve such a widespread problem has been a major goal of the U.S. congress since before the welfare reform bill of 1996. In his column, Ron Paul says, “Amnesty for illegal immigrants is not the answer. Millions of people who broke the law by entering, staying, and working in our country illegally should not be rewarded with a visa. Why should lawbreakers obtain a free pass, while those seeking to immigrate legally face years of paperwork and long waits for a visa?”(1).
Immigration has become a very controversial topic that no one can stop talking about. From President Barack Obama’s Immigration Reform to potential 2016 presidential candidates, everyone is looking at different ways to amend our broken immigration system. Almost everyone agrees that we need tighter border control and there needs to be more regulations to prevent the hiring of illegal immigrants. Not everyone is sure what should be decided about immigrant parents, who are not American citizens, and their American born children. This topic has left people questioning the 14th Amendment and “birthright citizenship.” While some people have no tolerance for these children and want them out, others have thought of better solutions that keep the
If you were to buy a fresh pair of Nike's from a street vendor and when you get home, the `N' falls off uncovering an `S', do you still consider them Nike's? Honestly, look at what they really are. They are Sike's. No matter how hard they try to be Nike's, they will always be Sike's. You can cover the `S' with an `N' but can you ever really replace the `S'? No, you can not, so why should an illegal immigrant gain American citizenship rights just because they were born in America?
The Obama administration in 2012 decided to launch the Deferred Act for young children arrival, which gave them temporary access of independence. The Migration Policy Institute states, “in 2014, it announced a new deferred action program for parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents” (n.d., para.1). The socioeconomic factors that lead to this legislation has a strong impact on this Act. There are exactly 11 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States waiting to become authorized so that they can start a bright future walking the path of success and continuing their own milestones. Gilma Celis believes that “the social and economic benefits of the implementation of the Dream Act would be beneficial to society” (2012, para.1). Many citizens who are from the United State do not understand that this Act is here to help illegals. It offers citizenship to the illegal immigrants who strive for a better life. “Immigrants up to age 35 who arrived in the United States before age 16 provided they complete two years of college” (Camarota, 2010, para. 1). Those that are given these benefits will receive in state tuition. Steven Camarota explains, “given the low income of illegal immigrants, most can be expected to attend state schools, with a cost to taxpayers in the billions of dollars” (2010, para.1). What led to this legislation is the simple fact that illegal immigrants are dreamers who believe
Today the Society is split into three separately minded groups. In no specific ordering, the first is determined to believe that any one person born in the United States is a citizen and which means their parents should become citizens along with them. These are the ones whom obtain “birthright citizenship” (Raul). The second are firm believers in the only ones that should be citizens are the ones who go through the proper process of becoming a citizen and according to the article in “USA today,” it states that illegal immigrants are “having babies as a way to obtain citizenship,” which too many Americans “cheapens the whole idea of being American”. The last group is the “other” the ones whom are completely neutral or believe in the
With deportation of undocumented immigrants being one of the top topics in the Republican Party nominee’s (Donald Trump) campaign, we all cannot but debate the effects of such action in relation to the 6.5 million undocumented Mexican immigrants who cover over half (59%) of the total 11.3 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. With such population, it is logical to say that these are thousands of Mexican families with children born both in Mexico in the U.S. According to Bredy (2012) “Today, more than three quarters of the children of immigrants are U.S. citizens and one-third live in mixed-status families”, therefore, it is evident that about one-third of American born Mexican children are prone to suffer from parental deportation. In
Becoming a citizen of the United States is a very lengthy process. Not just anyone can become a citizen of the United States. There are many requirements and responsibilities to becoming a citizen, whether it is of the United States or any other country. Being a citizen of the United States is a very special privilege. The people who do become a citizen should be very lucky and proud to be the citizen of the United States. Even though they do become citizens of the United States they shouldn't forget about their own country either, but share the joyfulness.
When I think of America I think of freedom and citizenship. The right to vote or the right of free speech are aspects that, as citizens, we posses. Being born in America automatically gives you these rights and many more, and most importantly, you become a citizen. Now, with citizenship comes responsibility such as obeying the law and paying taxes. So if you follow these simple rules does this make you an effective citizen? This question, in my opinion, is almost impossible to answer for a number of reasons, which will be addressed in the following paper. It was extremely hard to come up with a clear cut answer as to what an effective citizen entails. I grappled with this term through many drafts and in
All my life, my mother and father has told me how hard it has been to support our families in Vietnam. The economy from here to there is so horrible that we have to support them. We're always sending at least about a million in Vietnamese money which is equal to about a hundred in American money due to the currency between America and Vietnam. Because of these two reasons, I am in favor of having better immigration process for people who come outside the US.