1004_Ind2_S1

Name:

Instructions: Now that your group has decided on an issue, you must demonstrate that there is a problem. You will turn in this research sheet completed with two articles attached that you showed that there is a problem

I. There is a problem in society today. That problem is: Children of illegal immigrants that are born in the USA are given instant citizenship. This is a problem because it is a ladder to help cause more immigration. It gives illegal immigrants more reason and determination to sneak into the USA. This is also a major problem because this will cost tax payers' money to educate and provide health care for these children. But there are also deeper problems than financial problems. Children who are born in the USA are citizens but that doesn't mean their parents are. What would happen when the parents get deported? Would the children live in an orphanage, or would they move with their parents to their native land? This can separate families and make life hard for the children.

II. Facts that demonstrate that there is a problem are:

. The Urban Institute estimates the cost of educating illegal alien children in the nation's seven states with the highest concentration of illegal aliens was $5 billion in 2000. Since then the population has rapidly increased. This estimate also does not take into account the additional costs of bilingual education or other special educational needs.

. Illegal aliens are not eligible for welfare benefits, but their citizen children qualify for Aid to Families with Dependent Children and other benefits granted to US citizens. Based on data collected in California for AFDC's cases, the California Department of Social Services estimated that in fiscal 1994-1995, 193,800 children of illegal aliens received welfare, costing $553 million.

. By not addressing this abuse of the Fourteenth Amendment and enforcing immigration law, the funds that state and local governments must provide to anchor babies amounts to a virtual tax on U.S. citizens to subsidize illegal aliens.

. The cost of having a baby in the U.S. ranges from 6,000 to 8,000 for a normal delivery, the total cost for 726,000 anchor babies (the estimate of children born to illegal immigrants each year) would be nearly $6 billion. American taxpayers would pay a good part of the cost.

Citation:

Vile, John R. "Fourteenth Amendment." //Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society//. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.

Selepak, Andy. "$6 Billion a Year for 'Anchor Babies?'" //www.AIM.org//. Andy Selepak, 5 June 2007. Web. 10 Mar. 2011. .