CITIZENSHIP: Abused by immigrants

Ever since the 1980s, I have believed that birthright citizenship has been taken advantage of and even abused by illegal immigrants. During my medical education and training in Los Angeles during that time, I delivered many a baby, especially at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and a great percentage of them were to illegal immigrant parents. It was not uncommon to have an illegal immigrant woman cross the border that morning and deliver her baby that same afternoon or evening. Many arrived with maps directly to the medical center handed to them by their “coyote”, and they arrived without any prenatal care.  Their babies became the parents’ “anchor babies.” 

Then during my medical career, I cared for young adults born to illegal immigrant parents, and many of these American born adults identified themselves as being primarily citizens of their parents’ country of origin. Their allegiance seemed not to be centered on the United States. These individuals were millennials or younger, and they all held a progressive worldview. 

I agree with Jim Jones that SCOTUS will likely reverse President Trump’s executive order, and the only permanent strategy to end automatic birthright citizenship is through a constitutional amendment. But I also believe that having a massive number of illegal immigrants and their American born children aligning with a foreign country can only lead to destabilization of our American society. One can observe this happening during the anti-ICE demonstrations and riots during the past 12 months.

DANIEL FLORES, M.D.

Hayden