What Is a Birthright Citizen?
If you were born in this country, you were a citizen from the moment you were born; this is the heart of what a birthright citizen is. The United States and certain other countries guarantee that if you were born in the country, you are considered a citizen.
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The U.S. Constitution
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The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution defines a birthright citizen. This amendment states in part, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States... ."
Intent
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Slaves were initially considered three-fifths of a person. The amendment was approved after the end of the Civil War. According to the American Constitution Society Blog, its intent was to ensure that children born in the U.S. to African-born slaves would be U.S. citizens.
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Interpretation
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Since it was approved, the Fourteenth Amendment and birthright citizenship has been extended to children born in the United States to illegal or "undocumented" aliens--immigrants who are in the United States illegally.
Controversy
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There is a movement to exclude so-called "anchor babies," babies born in the U.S. to parents who are illegal immigrants, from being birthright citizens. Some say that because illegal immigrants do not fulfill both parts of the Fourteenth Amendment, their children are not automatically citizens, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).
Further Explanation
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This interpretation is that illegal immigrants do not have to obey our laws; they are not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof." So if someone does not fulfill both parts of the "birthright citizenship" clause, it does not apply to them. However, this has never been tested in court.
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References
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Vase Petrovski Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Bob Bobster
