OK, so all babies born in the U.S.A. are American citizens...

[RamblingRose]

so if their parents are illegal immigrants, or even on visas, etc. what does this do to their immigration status?

We live in an area with a very large Latin American immigrant population. And of these women, they all seem to be pregnant, while having another baby still in diapers. I know part of this is the catholic religion, and haven't noticed this trend with immigrants from other countries. I personally know several people that are popping out their 2nd & 3rd babies so they can be U.S. citizens while they are here on visas.

I'm curious to hear other DUers thoughts on the subject.

I support zero population growth, no matter where people are from.

Also, do you have to prove legal status before a child is allowed to enroll in a public school?

[Southpaw Bookworm]

1. No on the last question

At least in most jurisdictions, it's not kosher for public schools to ask a student registering for classes for documents regarding their immigration status. Proof of residence in the school district, yes.

[daveskilt]

2. the child can sponsor the parents to apply for residence.

even if the kid is 2 days old. The parents apply for permanent residency (actually technically the kid is applying for them as dependants.) with the child as sponsor. When I applied, it was actually my wife (a born US citizen) who applied to have me receive residency as her dependant. But it was me who applied for citizenship.

[NewJeffCT]

7. This is correct

My wife (not born in the US) was lamenting that it has taken her over 2 years to get her green card via marriage - and still it hasn't come - while our daughter, born 13 months ago, is a US citizen at birth.

[daveskilt]

18. thats not so bad....my citizenship application response -

"You should expect to hear from us between 750-999 business days from the date of your application."

So If I dont hear from them by 2008 I should give them a call.

[NewJeffCT]

22. well...

They told my wife it would be a year... however, it's now going on 26 months.

[daveskilt]

23. 2-2.5 years is about right for the green card

so it should be soon. It (the wait) varies a lot by where you are. TX and NY are bad...Utah and California good. I waited 14 months in Utah (after being told the average time was 2 years) for the green card. A DUer mentioned that it took 13 months to get citizenship in california for him recently. where mine is through texas and the wait is a lot longer...although hopefully not as underestimated as your wife's is! I could be dead by 2016.

[proud patriot]

3. The parents status does not change and still can be deported

I believe you have to show a birth certificate
SS# and imunization record to attend public school .

My thoughts on the babies thing first of all
It's none of my damn business how many babies
someone has ..It was my own personal choice to
stop at one . I know my Irish immigrant ancestors
had lots of babies too...

In fact I can think of many different groups
that decide large families are for them .

Greek (I'm not sure what the plural is)
Irish
Mormons
Itailians
etc....

[blondeatlast]

28. I live in AZ, the heart of Latino country, and there have been cases

where prents have been deported while their very young children stay behind.

It's no damn business of mine how many kids someone has, or why they have them.

It's no damn business of YOURS how many I have--even though I know you would approve--it's not your business.

[radwriter0555]

4. So? What's wrong with families, children, education? What's wrong with

the natural immigrants of this continent moving about in the same manner that their ancestors did?

We DO have enough to share with everyone, we ARE the greatest nation on the planet.

These natural immigrants work, educate, school, raise families, rarely divorce and are an asset to any community, thanks to strong values and work ethic.

What's the problem?

[Mountainman]

5. Zero population growth doesn't have anything to do with immigration

If they did not have the kids here they would have them somewhere else. At least here they have a 50/50 chance for survival and a decent life. Of course that should not apply to illegals some people think.

I live in a heavily populated diverse community. Many people are undocumented aliens. They work, they consume, their send their kids to school, they pay taxes, they obey the law. Most of their children become financially self sufficient and become part of the middle class. They are citizens because they were born here. They can vote, get drafted, and become President.

They are here and they are not going away. They will become the largest ethnic group in CA soon.

If you oppose this you are wasting your time and generating negative attitudes that do not hurt them but most likely are having a detrimental effect on you.

I work for such a person. He came from Mexico, he started a business that employs up to 3500 people. He has become very wealthy and he has no education. He is paying me the highest salary I have ever made. I'm glad he is here.

[blondeatlast]

29. BRAVO, MOUNTAINMAN!

I suspect there are UAs living next to me and they are very hard working, take better care of their homes than most of my neighbors, are helpful, friendly, and struggling to start their own business. My kid is their son's best friend.

I have to say it--if they didn't have brown skin, no one would have a problem. When I hear something like this, I know what I call it; a very unpleasant term I don't normally equate with liberals/progressives.

No one has yet been able to prove to me it isn't that word.

[icymist]

6. My personal and (constitutional) opinion are

babies born within the USA are citizens. If a family from another country has a child born here, what's wrong with having that baby being recognized a citizen? Treat people who are born hear as such and, I'm sure, you'll find them just like 'normal' Americans!

[AP]

12. I say, anybody who is IN this country, who wants to work:

we shouldn't stand in their way. Let's help peopole who want to work have good lives. They're WORKING for god's sake. Let's get out of their way.

[izzie]

8. Who knows. Guess the mother can stay

Does seem unfair to people paying taxes.

[Chelzek]

9. Nevermind the fact

if she stays she will also be paying taxes.

[RamblingRose]

13. If they are illegal, it's still only sales tax they will be paying.

I can argue this from many points of view, which is why I brought it up. I'm not sure which argument I agree with.

[sangh0]

14. Wrong, anyone who works in the US pays payroll taxes

like SS, disability, unemployment, etc as well as income taxes, which are witheld. Not only do they pay for these things, they often don't and can't collect the benefits they paid for because of their status.

[comsymp]

15. Correction: Anyone who works ON THE BOOKS...

Under the table employment is still goin' strong

[RamblingRose]

16. The majority here are day laborers, painters, & house cleaners

The white contractors are the ones that exploit the day laborers, and are making all the money, while the day laborers are paid a pittence. Then when the laborers get hurt and can't work, the contractors have no responsibility to help. I must say, the workers I have seen here work very very very hard.

[AP]

10. This post reminds me of Lisa Duggans last book.

She writes about how the Republicans try to use reproduction by poor people to convince people to vote Republican.

Most smart people realize that poverty is structural. In a world that creates so much wealth, it would be very easy to give people the opportunity and ability to make money, if the government wanted to allow it. But they don't, partly because they like the cheap labor, and partly because it might require slightly higher taxes on corporations. In any event, poverty is a choice we make at a policy level, not really a personal level (or at least, we should have a society in which having children shouldn't send people into poverty).

So, when Republicans are president -- and Reagan REALLY pushed this -- they try to act like poverty is cause by, mostly black people, who don't know when to say no.

Reagan combined race and poverty to convince white suburbanites that poverty wasn't a product of Republican policies.

This post throws in a third hobgobblin into the mix: immigration.

Every child born in this world, whether the child of an illegal immigrant, a school teacher, or a doctor or lawyer, should have an equal opportunity at success, which includes a good, free education, and living without the threat of a parent being deported. We need these people to grow up and make valuable contributions to society so that we can keep this American project rolling.

It's crazy to demogogue this issue as the original post tries to do.

[BiggJawn]

11. And children born to americans in foreign countries are Citizens.

Heard a bunch of people calling in to a talk show last month when the topic was "AHH-Nuld's Law" saying that they were born in such-and-such a place while their US Citizen parents were working/traveling/in service/undermining the Murkan way of life/etc., and thus they couldn't ever become President. Mis-informed fools.

Now, i know I went to school back in the age of "duck and cover", but i recall being taught that america recognizes "The Right of the Soil" and "The Right of the Blood", meaning that if you're born HERE, no matter what your parent's nationality, YOU are an American. And likewise, if you're born to American Citizens abroad, you are an American.

[daveskilt]

19. only if the mother is a US citizen

If the father is the US citizen and the mother not, unless they were married in the US the child born outside the US is not neccessarily a citizen.

[AP]

20. In the UK, being born in the UK doesn't make you a British citizen.

From memory, I think you have to have at least one parent who is British.

In Germany, for a long time, they had a very strict blood requirement. If one of your grandparents wasn't German, you couldn't be German, or something like that. I think Schroeder changed the law.

[Kellanved]

24. there are two basic systems:

Ius Sanguis: The citizenship is passed on from the parents to the child.
Ius Solis: Anybody born in the nation is a citizen.


The new German system is a mix, but still far more restrictive than France's or the US's: anybody with at least one German grandparent is German and everyone born in Germany to parents with a legal immigration title and eight years of residence (on Edit: after eight years legal residency in Germany one has a right on naturalization - so the law is not really a ius solis, but still a ius sanguis) .
A further liberalization was blocked by the conservatives with an extremely xenophobic, even racist, campaign; thus the planned double citizenship was removed from the law.

[RamblingRose]

17. Let me rephrase the question. Does having children born in the U.S. give

immigrants, notably illegals, an advantage in gaining citizenship?

[Bridget Burke]

21. Check immigration law websites.

I'm sure your thirst for knowledge will be satisfied.

How nice that this "rephrase" of the question omits out the phrase "popping out babies". Perhaps you're learning.

My father's parents came here legally--but in those days they'd let any white person in. They had five (5) children. Catholics, y'know.

[daveskilt]

26. link and comment

for information on citizenship issue

http://uscis.gov/graphics/services/residency/family.htm
(I was wrong the child cannot petition for the parents until they are 21 now)

http://www.house.gov/judiciary/619.htm

http://www.unc.edu/news/newsserv/archives/jul98/harris2.htm

http://irregulartimes.com/citizenship.html


They still let white people in FAR more easily. manys an anecdote to relate on this one for me, plus the stats on legal versus illegal imigration are pretty convincing.

I may be inviting flames but...I went through the long, difficult and expensive process of doing it the right way. If you want to be part of this countries political and democratic process, If you want to live here and be american...then do it right - go through INS and start paying taxes. People living here illegally piss me off and they should be sent back to wherever the hell they came from and not let back in. before the flames start....obviously not refugees of oppression etc. coming here illegally and not paying taxes simply says that person is not interested in really being a part of what america is only in getting a piece of america.

[RamblingRose]

27. Thanks. It does seem unfair to all those playing by the rules that are

waiting for citizenship. If you live near Atlanta, you know what I'm talking about. To all those still waiting for citizenship, get pregnant (just kidding).

Welcome to the U.S. to everyone on this post.

[blondeatlast]

31. Poverty, starvation, and unemployment are oppression enough for me.

I (literally) love my neighbors, whom I suspect are undocumented.

I still say this is an -ism I can't believe can be linked to so-called progressives.

BTW, my husband entered the hard way too and is still wiating for citizenship.

[daveskilt]

32. and thats the issue - where is the line? is there one?

I dont know. maybe its the law that needs an overhaul but then so does the system that puts people in poverty in other countries so we can have cheap running shoes.

[foreigncorrespondent]

25. Yes.

It works on the family immigration thing. If I had a known relative living in the United States they could sponsor me for immigration.

The same for a couple who has a child in the United States. That child can sponsor their parent(s) for immigration.

Generally if you have a relative there, immigrating is 100 time more easier than it is any other way.

[blondeatlast]

30. NO> Is that any help? Parents HAVE been deported, while the children stay.

Not just little brown baby's parents either, it that makes you feel any better.

My SIL is an Iranian, and a friend of hers was deported while her children stayed here with the Anglo father after the divorce.