Should the Children of Illegal Aliens Be Citizens?

The Immigration Question

Lee K...

Put it this way: if you buy a stolen car, and sell it, and that buyer sells
it, etc., the last owner still has a stolen car and it can be returned to
the original owner from whom it was stolen with no recourse. People born
of legal residents/citizens should be themselves citizens. People born of
parents illegally in the country should assume the citizenship of their
parents, which is obviously not American (or whatever country they entered
illegally -- Mexico has its own illegal immigrant problem on its southern
borders).

by Ron Paul

The recent immigration protests in Los Angeles have brought the issue
to the forefront, provoking strong reactions from millions of
Americans. The protesters’ cause of open borders is not well served
when they drape themselves in Mexican flags and chant slogans in
Spanish. If anything, their protests underscore the Balkanization of
America caused by widespread illegal immigration. How much longer can
we maintain huge unassimilated subgroups within America, filled with
millions of people who don’t speak English or participate fully in
American life? Americans finally have decided the status quo is
unacceptable, and immigration may be the issue that decides the 2008
presidential election.

We’re often reminded that America is a nation of immigrants, implying
that we’re coldhearted to restrict immigration in any way. But the new
Americans reaching our shores in the late 1800s and early 1900s were
legal immigrants. In many cases they had no chance of returning home
again. They maintained their various ethnic and cultural identities,
but they also learned English and embraced their new nationality.

Today, the overwhelming majority of Americans -- including immigrants