Past, present clash over birthright citizenship: #tellusatoday

We asked our followers what they thought about birthright citizenship and calls to end it. Comments from Twitter are edited for clarity and grammar: 

Children born on U.S. soil by parents who illegally entered should not be citizens automatically.

— @skepticaljlw 

It needs to be repealed. It’s been abused by those who ignore immigration laws.

— @RalphBecker1

The 14th Amendment has been around for more than a century. People have no idea how hard it is to repeal. The calls aren’t productive.

— @terra360    

With any law, there are people who abuse it, but repealing this would create more abuse and discrimination.

— @InspectorNerd 

Promoting the end of birthright citizenship is just to appeal to angry, far-right voters at the expense of U.S. laws and freedoms.

— @kati_vonlehman

It will never change, so why do we have to talk about it?

— @hansgruberdies

Birthrights to babies born to women with no legal right to be here should not be granted. The 14th was for slaves.

— @jan4rott

Letter to the editor: 

In his commentary, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., assumes a hypothetical child born of illegal immigrants on U.S. soil will automatically require multiple services and become a public charge, while contributing nothing (“Sen. Vitter: Close loopholes in immigration”).

The basis for this assumption is absolutely the race and ethnicity of the child. In Vitter’s mind, he or she is apparently predestined to become a welfare recipient, for being of Hispanic origin. The English word for such assumptions is “prejudice,” and in this case, the infant has been pre-judged as a “taker,” and not a potential productive citizen, before even exiting the womb.

Seeing immigrants only as users of services instead of producers hasn’t generally been our national experience with immigrants in the USA. Talented, hard-working immigrants are suffering for the actions of a small subset: those who are violent felons or determined not to work hard for their own success. Such persons are a minority whose troublesome presence in our country should not be allowed to dictate immigration policy.

Cary Chappell; Manhattan, Kan.

Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

It’s simple. When you reward bad behavior, you get more bad behavior. Illegally coming into our country is bad behavior.

Making a child of illegal immigrants a citizen of the USA is rewarding the parents for bad (illegal) behavior. If you want more illegal immigrants entering the country, then don’t change the anchor baby policy.

— Michael Sopchak

The 14th Amendment was written for a specific time, with a specific purpose. The time and purpose have passed.

— Kevin C Shadden

The Constitution is hard to change on purpose. The 14th Amendment is clear. We need a better immigration policy. I don’t hear anyone (regardless of party) with a decent proposal.

— Gabby Hayes

For more discussions, follow @USATOpinion or #tellusatoday.