asu in the news 02-06-08 to - ASU News - Arizona State University

ASU in the News
URL: Link to original text
Source: EastValleyTribune.com
Title: Citizen or illegal? - ASU’s Cruz comments
Nielsen NetRatings: 263382
Favorability: Positive
Full Text: Kimberly was afraid about going to Guatemala. But the 9-year-old girl knew it was
inevitable. Her parents were here illegally, and her mom had been caught. When the Tribune
interviewed Kimberly last month, she knew her mother was about to be deported. That happened a
short time later. Ten days ago, Kimberly and her two younger brothers followed. Guatemala is a place
Kimberly had never been and knew almost nothing about. She was born here. She went to school
here. She learned English and adopted the American culture here. In her heart, Kimberly said, she is
American. ’It scares me a lot,’ Kimberly said of going to a nation she had never seen and has no ties
to. ’It’s unfair to me. It’s just unfair.’ Kimberly and her siblings are Americans, all born and raised in
the Valley. The way things stand today, virtually anyone born in the United States is an American
citizen, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. But critics are pushing to change that. An
initiative has been launched in Arizona to challenge the presumption that American-born children of
illegal immigrants are citizens. There is a separate effort being pushed in the Legislature to achieve
that same goal. For years, legislation has been proposed in Congress that would strip automatic
citizenship from American-born children whose parents are in the country illegally. So far, the federal
effort has failed to gain traction. There is no tougher issue in the debate over illegal immigration than
what to do with U.S .-born children like Kimberly. Their parents are breaking the law and face
deportation if caught. The children are American citizens as a birthright, and are entitled to the same
rights and benefits as children born to American parents. But as the numbers of these children
continue to grow, so does the pressure to re-examine the issue of what is called ’birthright
citizenship.’ Critics of automatic citizenship for children of illegal immigrants say that notion is based
on a misinterpretation of the Constitution never resolved by the U.S . Supreme Court. Some use the
term ’anchor babies’ to describe those children, arguing the kids allow illegal immigrants to tap into
taxpayer-funded welfare and health programs while making it less likely the parents will be deported if
they get caught. No one can say for sure how many of these children are in the United States, or how
much they cost. Last year, taxpayers picked up the tab for more than 18,000 babies born in Arizona
to parents who could not prove they were in the country legally. Labor and delivery costs alone were
almost $88 million for those children. There are roughly 12 million illegal immigrants living in the
United States, according to studies from various organizations. That figure does not count the
estimated 3.5 million to 4million children born in the U.S . to parents here illegally. Theyare counted
as Americans, not illegal immigrants. Almost one in five children born annually in Maricopa County is
the child of a mother who is an illegal immigrant, according to studies based on 2002 data by the
Center for Immigration Studies. That percentage has almost certainly grown in the last six years, said
Steven Camarota, the center’s director of research. Mothers who are illegal immigrants account for
about 17.2 percent of the children born in Arizona and about 9.5 percent of those nationwide,
according to Camarota’s studies, based on Census data and records of all births compiled by the
National Center for Health Statistics. Separate studies by the Pew Hispanic Center estimate about
two-thirds of the children living in U.S . families headed by illegal immigrants are American citizens by
birth, according to Jeffrey Passel of the center. Those numbers, and the costs associated with the
taxpayer-financed benefits those children qualify for, are driving the effort to challenge the notion of
automatic citizenship, said Della Montgomery, chairwoman of the committee circulating the initiative
petition. ’I’m not saying ’starve them to death,’’ Montgomery said. ’I’m just saying they are not
citizens. It’s in such numbers now and it’s costing us money. We just can’t keep it up.’ The initiative
would prohibit the state from issuing a birth certificate to a child born to illegal immigrant parents.
Montgomery said she knows that, if passed, the initiative would be the subject of a court battle. The
ultimate goal is to force the U.S . Supreme Court to decide the issue, she said. COST OF CARE
Figuring the cost of American children born to illegal immigrants is tough. For one thing, they’re not
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