Accidents of Birth

For most Americans, it’s been a given that if you were born here, you’re a citizen, no questions asked, end of story. The President has floated the idea that he can put an end to that by executive order, even though legal scholars say it’s in the Constitution and he can’t do it that way.

Birthright citizenship is a fairly widely accepted concept in the world. In our case, If you’re born here, you don’t have to wait in line, take history tests, or learn English, you’re American. In most cases, our ancestors had to do the heavy lifting, making the trip here voluntarily, or in many cases, involuntarily. For those born here to decide to put a hurdle in front of future babies who enter the world on our soil  just isn’t quite fair, is it? And wouldn’t it be the worst paperwork nightmare ever? I see no justification for those of us who only had to be born here to act superior. We had no control over it, and can’t take credit for it. We were just lucky, and our first response, one would think, would be gratitude.

I do have a problem, though,  with one legal provision: that you have to be born here to be President. It’s a romantic idea. But why should someone foreign-born, who has taken the trouble to become a citizen, who loves this country and considers it home, follows the principles we espouse, and is deemed to have the necessary qualifications, be automatically excluded from the Presidency, just because of an accident of birth?

Let’s stop this “anchor baby” talk. Heck, we might even take it as a compliment that foreigners, including many who are talented and have contributions to make,  want to live here. At the rate things are going, that might not always be the case.