The Fourteenth Amendment states in part: "All persons born or naturalized in the UnitedStates, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of theState wherein they reside."

Adebate has arisen regarding this particular passage. It has been suggested that the amendment's wording is too broad, too inclusive, that its focus should be narrowed particularly in the case of children born in this country whose parents are illegal immigrants.

The basic philosophy behind this question is that these children should have the same citizenship status as their parents - which is zilch. They would also be subject to deportation right along with their parents when and if they are ever caught living in this country illegally.

As it stands now, if an illegal immigrant (mother) can prove that she has a child who was born in this country, in most cases she will not be deported and will eventually be provided with legal immigration status. Her child's citizenship protects her.

A whole host of questions arise when one opens this Pandora's Box.

Should these children be able to receive benefits such as Aid for Dependent Children, Medicaid or free meals in public schools? Would they be allowed to attend public schools? Could they ever become naturalized citizens?

Should the children born in the country whose parents are legal immigrants have their citizenship withheld too? When would they finally be considered citizens? Would it be when their parents became naturalized citizens or when the children reached voting age?

Should these children be eligible for AFDC or food stamps? Should they receive free medical care or a free hot lunch at school - all at taxpayer expense?

Yes, indeed, this is a jam-packed box full of pesky questions which come flying out when one begins questioning citizenship rights.

The first question which has to be asked is, "what is fair?" Fair to the child, fair to the parent - whether legal or illegal - and fair to the citizens of this country. What is the right thing to do? Where should we even begin to try and figure out what is the best thing to do?

I guess the best place to start is with the Fourteenth Amendment. Historically, the Fourteenth Amendment was designed to grant citizenship rights to African-Americans after the end of the Civil War.

Politically, it was little more than a "Carpetbagger" law and was designed as the coup de gras toward a fallen South. Besides bestowing citizenship rights to all former slaves, it also barred former Confederate officials from holding federal office and legalized the federal Civil War debt.

it was not designed as an immigration law or to cover the citizenship status of children born hereto immigrants, whether they're supposed to be here or not. But regardless of the political intent behind the writing and passing of the amendment, it is the constitutional law which indeed bestows citizenship status on any child born in this country.

As a matter of fact, most of our forefathers arrived here before there were any immigration laws, and today could probably be considered illegal immigrants.

They weren't invited, they just came. They were drawn by the same promise which draws immigrants to our shores today - an opportunity to provide their families with the best they can attain.

I may not have answers to any of these questions, but I do know that we cannot deny rights and privileges to a child born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants for several reasons.

First, we have to acknowledge that unless we erect some type of absolutely impenetrable barrier completely around this country, we will always have people who will successfully sneak past our border patrols. Since this is not feasible, we will always have illegal immigrants in this country.

Once that major fact is acknowledged we can begin to answer the question of what to do with their children. In the long run it will be in the country's best interest to provide these children with adequate food, education and health care.

We have to educate them. We absolutely cannot afford to have a group of children grow up in this country not knowing how to read or write or even speak the language of the land. No matter where their parents came from, these children will hopefully be the workforce of the future. And one of the greatest factors in the success of any country is how welleducated its workforce is.

We cannot deny them health care. Do we really want a horde of under-immunized, untreated children running loose on our streets? If this were to happen, how long do you think it would be before we had epidemics of measles, mumps or more serious diseases such as typhoid or cholera?

And yes, we do have to feed them. Let's face it, we already have a serious problem with underfed, uneducated children in our inner cities. A hungry child doesn't care if it's dishonest to steal so he or she can eat. They'll just want to fill their bellies. Have we not learned that lesson yet?

If I had to make a decision right now, on whether or not citizenship should be given to a child born in this country to illegal immigrants - my answer would be yes. We should grant citizenship status to children the second they are born in this country, regardless if their parents have been here five minutes, five years or five generations.

It positively is in our own best interest.

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