[Dr. Marten]

I'd go a step farther. I do not believe that a child should have the priviledge of becoming a US citizen if his parents both came here illegally. Maybe give him/her a chance when they are 18, but not until then.

Toss 'em all out. Wait in line and pay like everyone else does.

I guess the good news for me is that at least I know that after I get married and I return from my studies in China in 2 years, I wont have to mess with doing any INS paperwork to bring my fiance back with me....we can just trot right through the pearly gates of Mexico....I mean, once they are here, they can stay right ? /sarcasm

[speedy]

I lived several years in the Middle East. It was commonplace for pregnant women to fly over here to have their baby, thereby conferring US citizenship on it, before returning back home. Why do we give it away so easily? Why was this whole citizenship/immigration issue never put to some kind of public debate instead of rammed down our throats? And when they changed the immigration laws in the mid-1960s to move us away from European-based emigres, why was that not a bigger issue at the time? It had among the most profound affects on our society of any law in our history -- in essence, a conscious decision to change our demographics, our culture, our values -- and yet I never hear of it being the result of years of public debate. And why is it not permissible for us, even now, to change our immigration laws to permit only the most talented to come here? It is as if we are dealing with a force of nature rather than a legal issue we can control. I realize the issue of illegals is a separate one -- I guess as a nation we have decided, by default, that there is nothing we can do in either case.