Immigration Act Deserves Support

* The Citizenship Reform Act of 1997 being proposed in Congress would eliminate the practice of granting citizenship to people just because they are born on American soil. It is long overdue.

Rewarding the very special status of American citizen to children born to parents who have illegally sneaked into our country is unfair to our own children. Invoking the 14th Amendment to justify giving away our birthright makes no sense. That amendment was written after the Civil War to grant citizenship to former slaves, not to give the rights of American citizenship to children of people who are citizens of another country.

The California Department of Health Services reports that 14% of the births in California occur to illegal immigrants. That is over 9,000 annually in Orange County alone. Since our county is so heavily impacted by the economic and social costs of the influx of large numbers of illegal immigrants and the children they bear, it makes perfect sense for the Board of Supervisors to be supportive of measures which can help to alleviate the problem.

Let’s hope the board helps to persuade Congress to do the right thing, which is to pass the Citizen Reform Act of 1997.

LARRY CULBERTSON

San Juan Capistrano