Anchor Babies

In Florida, 5 students are suing the state for charging them out-of-state tuition even though they have spent most of their lives in the Sunshine State.  Some of them were even born in Florida, all were born in the United States.  The reason they were asked to pay higher tuition?  Their parents are illegal immigrants.  Now I’m not in favor of extending rights reserved for U.S. citizens to illegal aliens or their children, but these children were born here, hence they are legal U.S. citizens.  This is guaranteed Article 1 of the 14th amendment.  If these kids meet the requirements for in-state eligibility, then they should be allowed to pay the discounted rate for students residing within the state.  The citizenship issue is pretty cut and dry within the law as it stands today, but it is breathing new life into the debate of “anchor babies.”  If you’ve never heard the term, it refers to children born in the United States to parents of illegal immigrant status.  These children then become eligible for welfare, food stamps, and other forms of government-provided economic aid.  This also makes it much, much easier for the parents to stay in the country, becoming essentially “anchored.”  Now, I’m a big proponent of the Constitution.  It is the law of the land.  However, I believe this to be one area that has a problem within it.  I believe that the granting of citizenship simply by being born on U.S. soil should be removed.  One of the parents, if not both, should be U.S. citizens in order for the child to be a U.S. citizen.  I also believe that this will strongly address the problem of illegal immigration.  If the parents know that the birth of their child in the U.S. will no longer mean a free pass to government handouts, they may be less likely to come here.  This could save the U.S. government millions, if not billions, of taxpayer dollars.  Just think about it.  We would grandfather in those already born to illegal immigrant parents, but for anyone born after the change goes through, no dice.  This problem could solve several issues with one fell swoop.  I can’t understand why someone didn’t think of this sooner.  Oh wait, that’s right, votes.  It all comes back to votes.  Time for REAL change, ladies and gentlemen, and that is term limits for Congress.  It needs to happen, folks.  We MUST stop allowing politics to be a career choice.