March 28, 2006

Citizenship: The Precious Legacy

By Thomas Lifson
The problem posed by the presence of millions of illegal aliens in our midst has no easy and immediately practical solution. Sweeping rhetoric from advocates of one clean—cut position or another may sound satisfying, but would cause chaos in practice. De facto open borders or mass expulsion, if ever were attempted, would be disasters. When being practical, we tend to focus on immediate practical issues like border security, drivers licenses and insurance, and the payment of income and Social Security taxes. Lost in most of the arguments is the deep meaning that the concept of American citizenship holds for us. In classical antiquity, the proudest boast and most effective shield a man could utter was the Latin phrase, 'Civis Romanus sum' ('I am a Roman citizen').  This prideful status carried both obligations and protections, and was not something acquired idly by mere birth within a certain territory. Americans have married the concept of constitutional rights and duties to...(Read Full Article)