View Full Version : Are these babies citizens?
Polly
03-06-2007, 08:05 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/ap_on_re_us/immigrant_kids
Yes, these kids are US citizens. It is an attempt to control Medicaid costs and discourge their parents (who are illegal)from wanting to stay. However, unless we change the defintion of citizenship in the US, we are stuck. And these children would have no where to go-think about it. The diplomatic and administrative problems would be enormous. The US government can deport the parents but what about the child? Yes, they probably will follow the parents but they are not citizens of their parents country. Why? The parents won't file citizenship papers for their child. Therefore, the child is free to immigrate back to the US-and when they are 18 they can apply to be their parent's supporter to grant him/her citizenship.
The US can't force another county to accept a child born here as their citizen.:soapbox Therefore, I can't see the how the courts will support the law to make infants prove their citizenship.
Polly
I have mixed feelings on this. Not on the cost issue, or on the constitutionality of it--under the Constitution, they ARE citizens and that's it--but just on the issue of everyone being born in the United States being a citizen. It just strikes me as kind of odd. In the case of illegal immigrants, I think it makes sense--because the child will be spending their life in this country--but as a general rule it just strikes me as strange. I see citizenship as entailing both rights and responsibilities, and I do think that illegal immigrants still fulfill responsibilities to the country, so I have no problem with their children being citizens, but someone who is just in a country on vacation for a few weeks when they happen to give birth isn't, and in that case I find the idea of granting their child citizenship odd.
Kristi
03-06-2007, 09:09 AM
They are citizens. If they are born in this country and are going to be living here then yes they should be allowed to coverage under Medicare. Just because their parents are not citizens doesn't mean that they are not. They did not make the decision to come into the country illegaly they were born here and they deserve the same rights as any other baby born in the US regardless of what whether their parents are citizens or not.
Danielle
03-06-2007, 09:48 AM
I agree with Kristi. If you're born in a country you should have the same rights as anyone else who was born there.
I agree with Kristi on the issue of the medical care, on the deportation aspects i think it raises a tricky point as it could be exploited by those who know they risk deportation- intentionally become pg with give birth in the united states in order to ensure you could not be deported (as i can't see they would deport someone without their child if both parents were illegally here and the children would have a legal right to remain.)
I do think they need to clarify the issue on the legal residency of under 16/18s whos parents are to be deported (such as they can be deported with their parents if this is to be done but maintain a legal right to return at the age of majority)
gr8mommy
03-06-2007, 10:55 AM
I think we simply need to change the definition of citizenship to require that at least one parent be a citizen already.
Desirae
03-06-2007, 02:37 PM
I think we simply need to change the definition of citizenship to require that at least one parent be a citizen already.
I agree. Until then, they are citizens and should be covered by medicare.
The thing that worries me about denying Medicaid to the children of illegal immigrants is that the only effect I see it having is harming children. If the children aren't covered, it's not like the parents have the money laying around to pay for their care. And, they aren't going to just return to Mexico because their kids don't get free medical care here. So, they either won't take their kids in to the doctor, or they will have enormous debts that they will most likely never be able to get out from under. And they certainly won't be able to pay those debts off if they return to Mexico. It just seems way too much like the old sharecropping system, which trapped laborers into huge debts they could never pay off. Illegal immigration could basically become slave labor if essential care (like giving birth) comes with a $15K or $20K price tag.
I do think that changes in citizenship laws make sense--as I said, I don't see why someone born here while their parents were on a three-week vacation should get citizenship--but I think illegal immigrants who are working here would need a separate policy. They will most likely be staying here, and they are doing work that we need done, so I don't think their kids should be punished. If the government is going to look away while people who employee illegal immigrants fail to provide them with health care, because it serves the interests of business and government to do so, then I do think the government needs to pick up the slack and provide that care.
Polly
03-06-2007, 05:05 PM
Well, a few things. Illegal aliens are intentionally getting pregnant and having babies here for a shot at citizenship. And I bet the law the concerning who is a citizen won't change because the babies (thousands of them) grow up to be a thing that all politicans love and fear: a registered voter. :D
Polly
The babies should be covered. If they have proof of birth in the US, then that should be what is needed for medicaid to cover them.
The parents are a different story. I don't feel we should have to support them, allow them to stay or anything else simply because they birthed their baby here. If the parents can't stay, then they belong with their parents regardless of citizenship unless the parents can't take care of the child. Otherwise, the child can assume their full rights as an adult as most of our children do. Before that, unless the best interest of the child is in question, their rights are limited. If the parents want to make a day trip back to visit a dr that accepts medicaid for the child, fine by me. But I don't feel that we need to support illegal immigrants simply because of where they gave birth.
Desirae
03-07-2007, 01:56 PM
Polly, exactly why I think the laws need to be changed.
Jo, I agree with you on that.
Jessica
03-10-2007, 10:25 AM
The babies should be covered. If they have proof of birth in the US, then that should be what is needed for medicaid to cover them.
The parents are a different story. I don't feel we should have to support them, allow them to stay or anything else simply because they birthed their baby here. If the parents can't stay, then they belong with their parents regardless of citizenship unless the parents can't take care of the child. Otherwise, the child can assume their full rights as an adult as most of our children do. Before that, unless the best interest of the child is in question, their rights are limited. If the parents want to make a day trip back to visit a dr that accepts medicaid for the child, fine by me. But I don't feel that we need to support illegal immigrants simply because of where they gave birth.
:thumbsup I totally agree.