This passport is turning from a right to a privilege. Photo courtesy of junior Aidan Field.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship was guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, and it states that anyone born in the United States of America was entitled to American citizenship. This executive order aims to end this, a decision with far-reaching consequences that will certainly directly affect students at San Luis Obispo High school.
SLOHS students who lack documentation, or who have family members that do will be impacted.
Birthright citizenship is a pillar of our nation and the ideals it stands for, and the end of it marks a steep decline towards immense inequality. For the sake of millions of Americans, birthright citizenship needs to stand.
“The executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship is deeply concerning. The Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens. This principle has been a cornerstone of American identity and inclusivity for over a century,” said SLOHS Democrats Club Secretary Ethan Hibble.
The American identity is not inherently tied to a specific race or culture, though it is often perceived this way. It is instead rooted in the idea of a nation where anyone can find success and achieve their own version of the American dream.
“America is a place that I personally like to believe is a place where people can come and feel free and have all the rights they want to have,” said DeTurris.
While this may be an idealized version of what America represents, it remains an aspiration for this country and for millions. Despite a turbulent history where many have been denied this reality, the path forward is to repair these wrongs and to build a better nation is to restore and protect important rights such as the right to citizenship for all people born in this country, no matter their family’s immigration status.
The end of birthright citizenship has horrible consequences for our nation.
First and foremost, this change will make the citizenship process far more complicated for many people. For example, a child born in the United States, born into a family with proper documentation that was not given the adequate resources to verify their child’s citizenship, would effectively have their citizenship in limbo. As a result, those entitled to citizenship might lack it. This is further complicated in situations where it would be difficult to determine the legal status of someone’s parents at the time of a child’s birth.
People here on temporary work visas who happen to have children will also be met with a bureaucratic nightmare, trying to establish citizenship for their children for their personal countries of origin.
Another issue that this poses is with undocumented immigrants, the target of this executive order. Donald Trump and his administration are incapable of removing every single undocumented immigrant from this country. They are even less prepared to adequately prevent it in the future.
Eradicating illegal immigration into the U.S., even if it could be the right thing to do, is unrealistic and infeasible.
Illegal immigration will continue to be something this country faces. No matter what this administration does, undocumented individuals will still live in this nation, and most importantly, they will continue to have children and start families.
These children will grow up and have children of their own, whilst being, in this administration’s eyes, illegal residents.
This creates a new class of American, people born here, who have lived in America their entire lives, maybe even for generations, might be permanently stuck in a new lowest class of society. These individuals will live their entire lives with little opportunity for social mobility, born a crime.
Ending birthright citizenship doesn’t solve any issues, it starts a system of segregation and the creation of illegal-Americans. Individuals, born in the same cities, in the same hospitals, will be separated by their parent’s immigration statuses.
“For example, France doesn’t have birthright citizenship… and it’s a really big issue in that country because it creates two tiers of people, people who were born there, to immigrant parents, who have been a productive member of society for their whole lives, but they don’t have access to a lot of things because they don’t have citizenship,” said Deturris.
These individuals would be stateless, with no citizenship to any country. According to one study, by 2050, the population of unauthorized individuals, including those born in the U.S. with at least one undocumented parent, could reach as high as 24 million people, meaning a significant proportion of the U.S. population might meet this fate.
Why would anyone support this order?
This executive order was created out of an artificial narrative, built upon layers of xenophobia and racism, that immigrants were coming to this country and popping out children so that they could stay. This narrative dehumanizes immigrants and villainizes victims fleeing their home countries for their safety.
This executive order solves no real issues, instead it will construct a rigid class structure that generates obscene inequality.
Repealing birthright citizenship will lead to millions of people living their entire lives in the U.S. not being considered American.
And what then determines who is American?
When citizenship is tied to some form of lineage, being American will be linked with being born into the right family. Citizenship will not be for the tired, the poor, and for the huddled masses, it will be a privilege enjoyed by those whose families had the resources to have come to America the “right way”.
SLOHS students deserve to not grow up in a dying democracy, where millions of people, who should be considered American, will be disenfranchised because of hereditary status.
“I think it’s absolutely disgusting what Donald Trump is doing,” said Art Teacher and Democrats Club adviser Michael Norton.
The executive order should be declared blatantly unconstitutional. It is in clear violation of the fourteenth amendment, and it has already been challenged. Students can also take meaningful action.
“Reach out to local representatives and school officials to express your concerns. Writing letters, emails, or even organizing meetings can help ensure your voices are heard. Offer support to classmates who might be directly impacted by this policy change,” said Hibble.
SLOHS students cannot blissfully accept this as a new reality and leave the slightest possibility of this executive order sticking.
Sources:migrationpolicy.org, whitehouse.gov
