Philidelphia Inquirer

Not all born here are born citizens

The 14th Amendment allows for limits.

By Jan C. Ting
Jan C. Ting is a professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and a former assistant commissioner of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service

One of every 12 babies born in the United States has at least one parent who is in the country illegally, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. The Washington Post and others have reported on widespread “birthright tourism,” in which pregnant tourists come to the United States to give birth.

The current interpretation of the 14th Amendment allows all such children, whether born to illegal aliens or temporary tourists, automatic U.S. citizenship. Elected officials have begun to question whether that interpretation is correct and whether it could be changed.

What the 14th Amendment says is: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. …” The 14th Amendment does not say – or mean – that everyone born here is a citizen.

There are, in fact, many examples of people born in the United States who are not automatically citizens under the 14th Amendment. In every such case, the denial of birthright citizenship is based on the parents’ status

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http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100824_Not_all_born_here_are_born_citizens.html