He’s mentioning the unmentionable, and questioning the notion of citizenship as a birthright.

I think that this is a long overdue discussion (and I’ve thought that for decades, long before the immigration controversy heated up). But in order to discuss it, we have to have a discussion about what citizenship means.

In my opinion, citizenship of this nation is something that should have to be earned, even for those born here (I think that Heinlein was on to something with Starship Troopers, though I don’t necessarily agree that only military service would convey the privilege). But I won’t make the opponents of illegal immigration happy when I also state that I don’t think that one should have to be a citizen to live and work here (and for those born to American citizens, there would be no obvious place to which to deport them, even if they don’t earn citizenship). I think that non-citizens on US soil should enjoy most of the constitutional rights currently accruing to citizens.

Here’s what I don’t think they should get. They shouldn’t be able to vote. They shouldn’t be entitled to welfare benefits. They shouldn’t be entitled to public schooling (though, of course, I don’t think that that’s something that should be inflicted on citizens, either). They could live, and work, and spend their entire lives here, and even bear children, but they shouldn’t be allowed a franchise to be a parasite on the rest of society. And if they work hard, and pay taxes, and/or volunteer for public service of some kind, they should be granted a route to citizenship.

I in fact would rather have as a citizen someone who was willing to walk across miles of desert to be here, than someone born here who thinks that the world owes him a living as a result of that accident of fate.

Note, while I haven’t fleshed this out completely, it’s quite conceivable that I might come up with criteria by which I myself wouldn’t currently be eligible for citizenship. If so, though, because I consider my American citizenship of great value, if that were the case, I would do what I could personally to rectify the situation as soon as possible.