Share: mail

My dad is first generation American and second generation Guatemalan. Back in the 1970’s, my grandma – who was pregnant at the time – came here to the United States. As a single mom, she wanted to raise her son in a place that will allow him opportunities she knew he could not receive back in her home country. My grandma came here to achieve the “American Dream” for my father, to give him a better life.

In a recent HBO interview with Axios, President Donald Trump announced his intention to sign an Executive Order which could take away citizenship from children who were born American but with parents who immigrated to the country. If this Executive Order passes, it would violate the human rights of people like my grandma and dad.

President Trump only cares about the economy itself, and not the people who live within it. He is a businessman – the only thing he cares about profit. He doesn’t see people for who they are: he only sees them as statistic, a contributor to boosting his economy.

“We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States .?.?. with all of those benefits,” said the President.It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous. And it has to end.”

When is the last time we have seen this man say anything humane?

According to Axios, the fourteenth amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Therefore it would be unconstitutional if this law is passed. In spite of this, Trump stated he may be able to be get around passing this law with an Executive Order.  

Is this possible?

According to The Guardian, President Trump cannot propose this law with an Executive Order because it is embedded in the Constitution.

“When it passed the 14th amendment in 1868, Congress went further. It wrote a rule making it clear that any person, regardless of ethnicity or national origin, had a right to citizenship upon being born in the US,” states The Guardian.  

Even though it’s clear President Trump can’t pass this law without interfering with the Constitution, it still an attack an immigrants’ rights.

Imagine being an immigrant to a foreign country you aren’t familiar with, facing culture shock, and top of that feeling unwelcome by the natives to the land. It is dehumanizing to see a President do everything in his power to get rid of mothers, fathers, children, and others who come to this country in hope of finding a better life, but can’t do so because they fear of being deported because of regulations Trump wants to impose.

In a New York Times article, author Javier Zamora explains what’s it like to be an immigrant in the United States with a green card in this day in age. He was only 9 years old when he left his home country of El Salvador to come to the United States.

“My father left because of the war in 1991. Mom followed three years later. I followed, unaccompanied, in 1999. I did not understand what a border was, or what legality meant. What I did understand was that I wanted to be reunited with my parents, to be held by them,” said Zamora.

For Zamora, he left his home country of El Salvador due to reasons that were out of his control. He wanted to escape the chaos the country held, and to follow his parents to the US.

“Before July 11, I had been under Temporary Protected Status, which the Trump administration says it wants to end, even after a judge ruled it must stay in place,” explained Zamora.

The story of Zamora shows that being an immigrant in the United States is already intimidating but having a President will do anything to get rid of immigrants in this country is scary. He doesn’t see people for being human, only for being numbers in this country.

The process of becoming a US citizen is already long and hard, to take away citizenship from first generation Americans just because their parents aren’t from this country is “ridiculous”.

Trump can’t put an Executive Order that will take citizenships’ rights away from Americans who parents are immigrants to the country – it is unconstitutional. Just because someone wasn’t born in this country and wants to live here doesn’t mean they come here to import drugs or raise the crime rate like Trump promotes. They come in search for a better life for themselves, and their families.

Follow: rssyoutubeinstagrammail

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.