The idea of repealing the 14th Amendment is just the latest example of how small our politics has become. This is so bad as to be laughable — were its implications not so grave. In America, we do not practice or believe in communal punishment. There are about four million kids legally in the United States, but born to undocumented parents.
To deny them citizenship creates a generation of stateless children. We cannot force their parents’ countries to embrace them, nor should we reject them. They have done nothing wrong. They are born innocent.
If we repeal the amendment, how would we enforce our new citizenship standard? Do we station federal immigration agents in delivery rooms? Will every birth trigger an immigration investigation into the parents’ status? Do we want to amend the U.S. Constitution, the greatest document of liberty and freedom, so we can start deporting newborns?…
But we also need to recognize that we have lived with a broken system for so long that the millions here today have become part of us. They need to get right with the law — by paying taxes and moving to the back of the line for citizenship. But we also need to make sure employers are no longer hiring and exploiting undocumented workers. They must check every hire, verifying with the government that the employee is here legally. Those who fail to do so should be punished.
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