Birthright Citizenship Argument Essay

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Case Study Argument Essay
Birthright Citizenship is Draining Our Country

Illegal immigration has been a huge financial problem for the United States for many years. It costs millions of dollars to catch, process, and deport the thousands of illegal immigrants that are apprehended, and they are only a small percentage of over 11 million illegals living in the U.S. (Birthright).   Children born in the United States have automatic citizenship, even if the parents are here illegally. Birthright citizenship encourages illegal immigration by granting citizenship to “anchor babies”, legitimizing illegal immigrant’s presence, and making deportation less likely.
Many pregnant illegal women count on state funded healthcare to receive prenatal care. The cost of prenatal care, delivery and post- partum care annually costs upwards of $42 million in Georgia alone (Birthright). Many American women apply for, and are denied, state healthcare benefits on the basis of their income. They make too much money to qualify for assistance, but not enough to pay the thousands of dollars it costs to have a baby in the United States. Many legal American women do not receive the adequate prenatal healthcare that illegal immigrant women receive.
Children of illegal Latino immigrants cost the state education systems even more money every year. While many of these children speak both Spanish and English, they still need English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to keep up with their American counterparts. In 2007, ESL classes cost the state of Virginia over $12 million in extra teacher’s salaries and extra classroom spaces ( Birthright). These monies could have been spent on the education of children of legal American parents.
Many argue that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to any child born in the United States, even if the parents are in America illegally. The concept of birthright citizenship stems from a misinterpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, critics contend....

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