Should We Ditch the 14th Amendment?

I read an article by Roland S. Martin, CNN Contributor. He wrote, “Republicans such as Sens. Lindsey Graham, John Kyl and John Cornyn are tripping over themselves to jump on the latest "Dumb Way to Solve the Illegal Immigration Problem" by suggesting Congress examine repealing the 14th Amendment, which deals with one way of becoming a U.S. citizen.

The far right has latched onto the idea that the provision in question -- which grants citizenship to children born in the U.S. -- is being abused by illegal immigrants who choose to come to America to have their children, thus worsening the illegal immigration problem.”

Although Mr. Martin was negative, I was appalled. My opinion of the matter is this;

It is not the 14th amendment that is at fault. Most American citizens today are the descendants of foreign immigrants. Many of their grandparents never became citizens, but their children became citizens at birth because of the 14th Amendment. The system has worked well for more than a century.

We have laws in place to deal with illegal immigrants. What we need to do is enforce our current laws, protect our boarders and institute an intelligent Guest Worker Program. That would provide the temporary labor force that many of our businesses rely on, as well as eliminate most of the criminals and terrorists that everyone fears. It would also deter the pregnant illegal’s that sneak under our fences in order to have their children here.

Hard working individuals that wish to migrate to the United from any location, and do so legally, will establish families here; that is human nature. Children of those families will become citizens under the 14th Amendment, just like the rest of US. It is not the American way to single out one group of people and legislate against them.

The entire world has recognized America as the Great Melting Pot for decades. That ethnic diversity has made US a strong and resilient nation. Do we really want to change a law that has worked so well in the past, when there is no sound moral reason to do so.