US District Judge John C Coughenour has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship regardless of the parents’ immigration status. The case was moved before the court by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, which argued that the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court case law have guaranteed birthright citizenship. The case is one of five lawsuits being brought by 22 states and a number of migrants rights groups across the country.
Just after taking over the office of President, Trump had signed a number of executive orders and one of them was his government would no longer treat all US-born children as citizens and confer citizenship right on a new born baby. Trump in one stroke altered the basic constitutional tenet and provisions. The law nevertheless specifies: “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.” It was ratified in 1868 to ensure the citizenship of former slaves after the Civil War.
His action of terminating 157-year-old Amendment sends the message across the globe that an autocrat believing in rightist philosophy has come to the power. Trump’s order is indeed a deceitful action. Trump and his rightist ally MAGA, hold the view that unfettered migration provides an incentive for people to come to America illegally. Their children born in US will automatically be citizens and later would become legal permanent residents. Every year 33000 such children are born in US when their mothers visit the country as tourists. Trump described it as birth tourism.
Trump’s concern has been entirely misplaced. How could the US administration not differentiate between a woman visiting US as a tourist with the women who are US citizens or live in America for pretty long time. Trump and his supporters have been simply misleading the people. A pregnant woman visiting on tourist visa may deliver her kid anywhere enroute. It would be mischievous to attribute to her saying that main reason for visiting US is for the purpose of obtaining citizenship for the child.
Trump could have modified the Citizenship law as has been done by many countries. Instead he passed the order that impairs the Constitutional rights of the people living in US for years. There is little doubt that this move of Trump smacks of hatred for immigrants… . Significantly almost all the countries have been granting citizenship by birth if at least one parent is a citizen of that country or a legal permanent resident who has lived in the country for several years.
Constitutionally and legally Trump has no right to abolish birthright citizenship and any such change requires supermajority votes in Congress, and then ratification by three-quarters of the states. But an autocrat is an autocrat and treats himself above the law and constitution. It is yet to be defined whether this change will push US backwards, but one thing is certain it will destabilize the American society.
The growth trajectory of America may look quite impressive. But after two years, when the process of deportation is formalised, US would feel the pinch. The Americans would lament that Trump has robbed America of its tag of being the super power . A dictator lives in his own make believe world and is not concerned of the people’ welfare. That is endorsed by his immigration order. Strange, he even rescinded an order that established a task force to reunite families separated by Trump’s zero-tolerance policy.
US lawmakers have been critical of this order. They sought to know: Does it make sense to send children who are born in the US to countries that they don’t know, may never have been to and where they have no support network? H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. The technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. Children of H-1B visa holders who turn 21 before their parent secures a Green Card can lose their dependent status and age out of the ability to obtain a permanent resident card.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler, senior Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, speaking during a Congressional hearing on restoring immigration enforcement said; “The extensive Green Card backlogs for high-skilled workers mean that H-1B visa holders must wait decades and even centuries before a Green Card is available to them. That’s bad enough, but under this executive order, even children born in the US to such parents might have to self-deport because they would be denied citizenship at birth”.
Trump is short sighted and does not have a comprehensive understanding of the implication of his order. It is a common psychology that people tend to violate ban. His order will discourage legal immigration. In future the people will resort to illegal means to enter US. The worst sufferer would be individuals who intend to come to US through legal means. One thing is also absolutely explicit that it will also discourage high-skilled immigration. High skilled immigrants would certainly prefer to have their children and wives with them. But for an autocrat human emotions and relations do not matter..
India’s government decision to work with Trump administration to identify and take back all its citizens residing illegally in the US is hasty. What indeed has shocked is the averseness to protect the members of the Indian diaspora who have been residing there for long but don’t fall in the ambit of the order. They are facing an uncertain future. Around 7.25 lakh Indians are in US. On Friday, the Indian authorities conceded to the US concerns over irregular migration. It has agreed to accept illegal migrants from the US only after verifying their Indian origin. It is unfortunate that even before the order becomes operative US has started deporting so called illegal Indians. US intends to launch “largest massive deportation operation”. It has already started counting such heads without taking Modi government in confidence.
It might seem to be exaggeration, but the fact cannot be denied that harassing and humiliating India is continuing despite Trump claiming that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is his friend. Most of the Indians are highly educated and hold important positions. Obviously it was expected of Modi that he should take up this issue with his best friend Trump and find a way out. But he has proved to be a timid guy who simply indulges in flinging around hyperboles.
Trump’s stance makes is abundantly clear that he does not treat Modi even as a good friend, forget the prefix “best”. From not inviting him to his swearing in ceremony to threatening to impose tariff and trade tax, Trump has conveyed a strong message to Modi . Indian government is said to be collaborating with US authorities to protect visas for workers and keep close ties with Trump administration. But at what is the net result? So far Trump administration has sent any signal that it will be softer to Indian persons in USA. Both Prime Minister and the foreign minister have to assert strongly with the Trump.2 regime to protect the interests of the U.S. based Indians. That should be the first diplomatic priority of Modi now. (IPA Service)
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