Manic
User title? USER TITLE?!
- Joined
- May 3, 2005
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I've always found debates to be overall futile, as most people who engage in them already have their own viewpoint set in stone, and the debate itself only really helps ambivalent spectators.
However, since you nudged me on...
Yes, illegal immigrants are a problem. But there's a blanket of xenophobia hovering over this country that forces some people to lump the legal immigrants in with the illegal ones. Legal immigrants aren't a problem. They're part of what made this country great. They plowed our fields, built the railroads, became our doctors, our bankers, our lawyers. Many of them came from places where they couldn't express themselves, and when let loose in the United States, they blossomed, and added to this great country.
But all that aside, a great many of you wouldn't be here if your ancestors weren't allowed to stay in this country because they were born before their own parents became citizens. Imagine being born in this country, but as soon as you turned 18 and were no longer under the guardianship of your visa'd/naturalized parents, you were under the risk of being deported to a country you'd never even been to. Your parents are from Afghanistan, but who gives a F if you were born and raised in Cleveland-- you're going to Afghanistan.
Taking away birthright citizenship would force the United States to turn its back on its own people. People born in the US deserve to stay in the US. It's called "birthright citizenship" for a reason: because it is a right of birth. Don't take that fundamental right away from people who deserve it simply because some border-jumping preggos are abusing it. Change the law; don't get rid of it outright.
However, since you nudged me on...
Yes, illegal immigrants are a problem. But there's a blanket of xenophobia hovering over this country that forces some people to lump the legal immigrants in with the illegal ones. Legal immigrants aren't a problem. They're part of what made this country great. They plowed our fields, built the railroads, became our doctors, our bankers, our lawyers. Many of them came from places where they couldn't express themselves, and when let loose in the United States, they blossomed, and added to this great country.
But all that aside, a great many of you wouldn't be here if your ancestors weren't allowed to stay in this country because they were born before their own parents became citizens. Imagine being born in this country, but as soon as you turned 18 and were no longer under the guardianship of your visa'd/naturalized parents, you were under the risk of being deported to a country you'd never even been to. Your parents are from Afghanistan, but who gives a F if you were born and raised in Cleveland-- you're going to Afghanistan.
Taking away birthright citizenship would force the United States to turn its back on its own people. People born in the US deserve to stay in the US. It's called "birthright citizenship" for a reason: because it is a right of birth. Don't take that fundamental right away from people who deserve it simply because some border-jumping preggos are abusing it. Change the law; don't get rid of it outright.