• By: Laura-Frances Taylor December 6, 2018

Since the late 15th century, when the Americas were colonized by Europeans seeking religious freedom and refuge, immigrants have traveled here and have been brought here unwillingly which built the diverse continent of North America. There were already populations here when the Europeans decided to set up camp. There were no tariffs or laws against travelling to the “New World” and the colonizers took advantage of those liberties. The Native people of this “new” land were almost completely wiped out to make space for a swarm of immigrants and slaves. The original Americans were forced to turn their land over to immigrants and from that point on the border has been open to immigrants seeking “a better life”. So why is that now, after 700 years, should changes be made? Why should refugees be turned away from a country that they were born in because their parents were immigrants?

What does The Right to a Nationality Mean?

It is stated in the Human Rights that “Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” Everyone has the right to claim a state or country. Everyone has a place of origin. So who’s right is it to deny those born in a country their parents aren’t from? Birthright citizenship affects over 4.5 million people in the U.S. Just imagine how many jobs would be left abandoned and how many children would have to relocate from the only country they’ve ever known because someone took their rights away overnight.

Why should this Right be protected?

A lot of people actually don’t know what’s so important about birthright citizenship and how it affects the people around us. I asked a student who is a birthright citizen what it was like to live here with undocumented parents and siblings. For reasons understandable, she wishes to with hold her identity.

“I live in constant fear that my family will be torn apart,” she says.

“When I saw the videos of the kids being torn apart and a little boy seeing his mother after being separated and he thought he abandoned her, I thought about my little brother if he would think that my parents abandoned him. When immigration passes by the area I start to get nervous. On the other hand, it gets me very angry because the majority of the parents are innocent. They come to the US for a better life but [immigration] treats them like trash. They sacrifice everything. They go as long as decades of not seeing their own parents because they want their own kids to have a successful life.”

Even though you aren’t affected by this right, millions of people in the U.S. are. Families live in constant fear of being separated. Being punished and threatened with deportation to a country where you have no foundation or stability can cause anxiety. Humans are being treated as lesser just because of the language they speak and the country their parents came from. It is important that everyone is aware that these rights are important to all of us and that there are no exceptions to Human Rights.