Re: Rethinking Birthright citizenship means what exactly?

It shouldn't be "where" you're born but "who" you're born to.

American (United States) citizens who have a child would bestow American citizenship to that child, whether the child is born on American soil or while overseas. That's how it works with most countries. In the cases where the parents are citizens of two different countries, then I believe either the parents select one of these as their nationality, or they are given dual citizenship until they reach the age of 18. Depending on which 2 countries are in question, there are different situations and agreements.

If my parents are Americans, and were living and working in Russia or China, and I was born in that country, would I actually BE a Russian or Chinese person? No. I am the child of my American parents, who are raising me as an American child with American culture and values. (The children of expats who grow up in foreign countries still identify themselves with their own nationality.) I may be picking up a lot of the local culture, too, so dual citizenship might make sense (IF that host country chose to grant it), but eventually I would need to choose one of these countries.

Likewise, if my parents went on vacation in Mexico and (surprise!) I was born early, would I actually BE a Mexican person just because my parents went south of the border? No.

I don't know that there is a proposition to start "ripping" a child's birthright away, as in renouncing citizenship of children already born of illegal immigrants. But it would simply stop bestowing citizenship automatically on people born in this country whose parents are not citizens. The children born to illegal immigrants should bear the citizenship of one of their parents.

In your situation, your child would be an American citizen because YOU are one. The fact that their mother is Mexican would not be a reason to deny citizenship.

To me, this issue doesn't involve any hatred of certain nationalities or people groups. It's just the matter that ILLEGAL immigrants are not, in fact, citizens, and should not be granted all of the rights and privileges of citizens. Again, that's certainly true in other countries.

Yes, there are 2 classes in ANY country, citizens and non-citizens. No, they are not equal, nor should they be. They are equal in many ways, as all humans are, such as equal in human dignity and value. But non-citizens of any country are distinct and do not have the same rights and privileges. They should not have access to "all the same resources". I have lived and traveled in other countries and felt the distinction of being a non-citizen. However, I entered those countries legally and did not expect to receive any of their resources as a right.

People are certainly welcome to immigrate here legally, work towards citizenship and renounce their loyalties to their former country. We definitely need to work on improving our LEGAL immigration system, which is flawed.