Birthright Citizenship Should Be Abolished Essay Example
Birthright Citizenship Should Be Abolished Essay Example

Birthright Citizenship Should Be Abolished Essay Example

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  • Pages: 2 (502 words)
  • Published: May 13, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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Birthright Citizenship Aff: We affirm the resolution that birthright citizenship should be eliminated in the United States. According to the Black’s Law Dictionary, we define "abolish" as annuling, eliminating, or destroying an ongoing practice or thing. Furthermore, we refer to the Merriam Webster dictionary to define "should" as a word expressing obligation.

The main criterion for this round is net benefits. An affirmative vote should be given if we can demonstrate that abolishing birthright citizenship has even a slight benefit or that keeping it is slightly harmful.

Contention

Education for the children of illegal immigrants presents the biggest financial burden for taxpayers. The annual cost of educating these children, which amounts to $52 billion, is primarily carried by state and local governments. This high cost of education provides a strong argument in favor of ending birthright citizenship. While the Suprem

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e Court has ruled that even illegal immigrants and their children must receive education if they are of proper age, U.S. law explicitly states that unauthorized immigrants are not eligible for benefits like Medicare or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).

Once one member of the family is a citizen, this is no longer the case. As such, once illegal immigrant families have children, they are eligible as those children are American citizens. This is unfair because illegal immigrants receive the same benefits as their legal counterparts do; yet they are not paying an equivalent amount into the system.

Contention

The current situation incentivizes illegal immigration due to birthright citizenship allowing for the potential acquisition of American citizenship by having a child in the country illegally.

The benefits of giving birth to a child in the United States go beyond the social

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services provided to undocumented immigrants. If someone without legal status has lived in the country for seven years and has an American citizen child, they may qualify for permanent residency. This shows how the law rewards those who break it and punishes those who follow it. (Source: FAIR federation for american immigration reform http://www.fairus.)

org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=16535&security=1601&news_iv_ctrl=1007 In addition, individuals have the option to use having a child as a way to bypass screening procedures for obtaining visas in the United States. Normally, foreigners who are likely to become dependent on welfare are not approved for visas. However, this requirement can be sidestepped by foreigners who would typically be ineligible for visas. They can acquire permanent residency by having an American child as evidence of hardship, regardless of whether they were ever on the immigrant visa waiting list or would have been excluded due to being a public charge. This gives them an unfair advantage over law-abiding immigrants who have followed the rules and have been patiently waiting for permanent residency. By not addressing the interpretation of birthright citizenship, Congress effectively rewards those who break the law while penalizing those who opt for legal immigration. Consequently, supporting an affirmative ballot is justified based on the aforementioned reasons.

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