DELAWARE VOICE

Abolish birthright citizenship

Follow the example of Europe and restrict national rights

by HOWARD M. BERLIN

10/10/2007

For more than a year, the drama of an illegal immigrant under orders of deportation used the concept of church sanctuary to keep authorities at bay. In August 2006, Elvira Arellano took refuge with her American-born son, Saul, in Chicago's Adalberto United Methodist Church rather than attend a deportation hearing.

Arellano, a Mexican citizen, first entered the United States illegally in 1997 and was deported. In fact, she was deported several times, and repeatedly returned. While in this country, she gave birth in 2000 to Saul, who is a U.S. citizen under the Constitution's 14th Amendment granting birthright citizenship.

Under the amendment, birthright citizenship has a few exceptions, such as children born to foreign diplomats in the United States. It is a concept that has no equivalent throughout most of Europe and Asia.

Overseas, children born to legal citizens (including naturalized immigrants) are citizens of that country. Children of illegal immigrants and resident aliens are not.

The drama starring Arellano has been hyped by immigration rights activists to the fullest, trying to make the U.S. government the villain. Arellano, a twice-convicted felon, was forced to choose between returning to Mexico without her son, or taking her son back to Mexico even though he is an American.

Regardless of her motivation to seek a better life, by illegally entering the United States repeatedly she knew full well what she was doing was against the law and that her situation could be compounded by having a child. When she couldn't argue the facts, she and her supporters tried blaming the U.S. government for her own predicament.

In August, Arellano traveled to Los Angeles to lobby some politicians, but was arrested and repatriated to Mexico. Her son remains in the United States. Reportedly Emma Lozano, the wife of the pastor of Adalberto United Methodist Church, is now Saul's legal guardian.

Immigration rights activists have tried to frame this as a U.S.-Mexican problem. However, there are many illegal immigrants from Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. And this is not the only country having problems with an influx of illegal immigrants. Virtually all of Europe, Israel and Morocco have had to deal with them.

Here and elsewhere, most illegal immigrants come alone without family to look for work not available in their own country or that pays more. Some have no intention of remaining permanently in the host country and leave after some time. A significant portion bring family and have children born in the country they entered illegally.

I write a magazine column about museums around the world and visit Europe often. I never thought I'd admit it, but we can learn from modern Europe.

Years ago, the countries of Europe saw the influx of illegal immigrants and changed their citizenship laws to prevent the dilemma that has captured American attention for the past year.

Because of their cradle-to-grave social benefits, almost all Western European countries once were attractive magnets for illegal immigrants. As in the United States, hospital emergency rooms got used for primary care, schools required bilingual instruction and social security costs affected taxpayers. Many illegals do not have driver licenses and drive without insurance.

Yes, some illegal immigrants have a taxpayer identification number and pay taxes, but that doesn't make it right. Too many work off the books for cash.

Europe once encountered the same thing, but eliminated one of the incentives: birthright citizenship.

Another practice I have encountered as a tourist is the first thing a public hospital or clinic asks of the sick is a passport. No passport, no treatment. Also, they don't treat tourists for free. One exception is Scandinavia, but then who wants to pay 60 percent and higher income taxes?

If you go to a public hospital or clinic in most countries and are found to be there illegally, you could be turned away, or arrested and deported.

Before anyone accuses me of being biased against immigrants, I wish to point out that my paternal and maternal grandparents and my aunt were immigrants that escaped the pogroms of czarist Russia. My wife, her brother and parents were immigrants who escaped from the former Czechoslovakia following the Prague Spring. All of my relatives immigrated legally to the United States.

The Elvira Arellano saga is not the first of its kind here, nor will it be the last. As many people have urged, immigration laws should be changed. Current quotas favoring immigrants from certain countries should be looked at.

Illegal immigrants should not be given any advantage simply by paying a fine. They should have to return to their home countries, stand in line, and wait their turn, just as my family did.

To eliminate future dramas like Elvira Arellano's, Congress should learn from the Europeans and change the 14th Amendment to abolish birthright citizenship. Children born to illegal immigrants should not be afforded the right of citizenship while a parent knowingly violates the law.

Howard M. Berlin lives in Wilmington. He is a retired college educator.