Since the whole "anchor baby" thing has been abused, it's time to change it. Why not give kids who are born here of illegals a sort of "provisional citizenship," while at the same time make it more difficult for the parents to stay? No bennies, no health care, no free schools, but a chance to become a citizen when said kid is 18. Here's a scenario: Juan y Maria come across the border, have little Lupe. Juan y Maria try to get Lupe enrolled in schools, but since we can't really afford it, we need to show them all the door. Lupe goes back to Mexico. When she turns 18, Lupe can come back, and, by means of the provisional citizenship, get a job (to support the system), get an education (again, while supporting the system), and takes citizenship classes. After she takes the test, she renounces her Mexican citizenship FOREVER, and must go through the steps the rest of us normal people take when they go south of the border. She is free to send money to her parents (at 15% taken off the top), and is free to sponsor another relative to immigrate LEGALLY.
To give carte blanche citizenship to any woman who leaps across the border, spits out a kid, leaps back to Mexico, then shows up when the kid is old enough to go to school/has the sniffles/needs new shoes is stupid. It's a drag on our system, which has been taken advantage of. I know. I've seen it. I work with the progeny of such unscrupulous persons every day. It has to be fixed, and I think something like a "you're not a citizen, and can't be one, until you start giving into the system" policy might be start.
Just my idea.
“Why not give kids who are born here of illegals a sort of “provisional citizenship,” while at the same time make it more difficult for the parents to stay? No bennies, no health care, no free schools, but a chance to become a citizen when said kid is 18.”
Would likely violate equal protection. There’s no ‘sorta citizenship’, or ‘almost citizenship’. Just citizenship. If you make this distinction, what’s to stop the expansion of this distinction, particularly if you bar people with ‘provisional citizenship’ from voting?
As a disabled person, there’s nothing from stopping this from being applied to us, making us effective non-persons. We can’t function as well as the cool kids, so we get provisional citizenship. See where I’m going here?