Citizenship

I find Ron Wirsing's comments ("Repeal 14th Amendment," Readers Respond, Aug. 18) disturbing, and indicative of an appalling ignorance of basic US history. The history of our nation's legislation on immigration illustrates repeated attempts to prohibit the entry of people considered "undesirable. " That list of "undesirables" once included people from Southern and Eastern Europe (Greeks, Italians, Russians, Jews), as well as Chinese and Japanese. That legislation was designed to favor immigrants from Northern Europe, by using quotas.

Just when Washington looked like it was completely preoccupied with the scandals, real and imaginary, swirling around the White House, a group of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate managed the unexpected (and, these days, extraordinary): They agreed on something. The vote Tuesday night in the Senate Judiciary Committee to forward to the floor a massive overhaul of the nation's immigration system was, to be sure, a small step and doesn't guarantee success in the full Senate, much less the House of Representatives.

As we continue another year of debate over in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants, complete with the legal and moral issues, I wish to suggest to our representatives in the state legislature a different approach. Why not propose a bill creating a partnership between Maryland and the federal government that would mandate that each non-resident student complete, as part of his or her college or technical school admission, the requirements for U.S. citizenship? Trained naturalization instructors certified by the United States government would educate students in the requirements of gaining citizenship.

I support a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million because it's the right thing to do. Our immigration laws are broken, and 11 million Americans need our help to find a solution. I personally know some of these hard-working immigrants, and I think it's hurting our country to keep them living in the shadows. I am a first-generation American myself, and I remember the struggles of my parents. We need Congress to protect the path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States and to vote in favor of reform this year.

I think we need to require that all children of illegal immigrants take classes in school that will lead them to becoming citizens of the U.S. The Supreme Court requires all states to allow illegal immigrant children to attend public schools. So, why not require them take the classes needed to become citizens of the U.S. as an added certificate to their high school diploma? Then they would be citizens to attend colleges as any other U.S. citizen student. Any student who does not take these classes and not graduate high school would be deported to their home country.

There are millions of immigrants in our country who aspire to become citizens, but under our broken immigration laws, they have no way to earn citizenship. I personally know some of these hard-working immigrants, and I think it's hurting our country to keep them living in the shadows. That's why I'm calling on Congress to protect the path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States and vote in favor of reform this year. We need real solutions, and rounding up 11 million people or asking them to self-deport is not only inhumane but completely unrealistic.

Should learning and practicing citizenship skills be part of requirements for each graduating high-school student? This is an issue the state Board of Education is trying to decide as it works to overhaul high-school graduation requirements.Maryland has long recognized that student altruism must be encouraged. In 1985 it became the first state to require schools ++ to offer elective credit for community service. The proposal under consideration would go further. In another first in the nation, it would require all graduating Maryland students to perform citizenship service in school or out of school.

There was a time in his life — it turns out, most of his life — when Marco Alva felt like a man without a country. He had become separated by time and distance from Mexico and the culture of his native country, and, while he had married an American and started a family here, he was not yet a citizen of the United States. Sunday morning in Annapolis, the feeling of being adrift went away. On the Fourth of July, Marco Alva became an American. He and 36 other men and women took the oath of citizenship at the annual naturalization ceremony at the William Paca House, home of one of Maryland's signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Casa de Maryland launched a program Tuesday to offer small loans to legal permanent residents who would like to apply for U.S. citizenship, the nonprofit said. The pilot program will loan 125 individuals each $680, the fee charged for naturalization, the immigrant advocacy group said in a statement. Borrowers will be required to repay the loan over a six-month period at an interest rate of 8.5 percent to 9 percent, according to the statement. Applicants will pay a $25 application fee that will be returned upon full repayment of the loan, Casa said.

JAMAICA-BORN grandmother Dorothy Elliott turns in her green card for the red, white and blue Sunday when she'll be sworn in as an American citizen.At age 68, after 24 years of carrying an alien registration receipt card as proof that she was staying here as a permanent resident, Elliott sighs and says it's about time she took up American citizenship."

There are millions of immigrants in our country who aspire to become citizens, but under our broken immigration laws, they have no way to earn citizenship. I personally know some of these hard-working immigrants, and I think it's hurting our country to keep them living in the shadows. That's why I'm calling on Congress to protect the path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States and vote in favor of reform this year. We need real solutions, and rounding up 11 million people or asking them to self-deport is not only inhumane but completely unrealistic.

Dear Scholar, It was wholly a pleasure to get your thoughts about the current debate over illegal immigrants and how to approach the nettlesome challenge they represent to us -- and we to them. It was good of you to rehearse some classical history for me, explaining how other societies, our forerunners as democracies (Athens) and republics that acquired an empire (Rome), dealt with their immigrants. All in the course of challenging my view that some way to citizenship should be left open for our millions of illegal immigrants.

I consider it a privilege and a deep honor to have been born a United States citizen. As I see it, the figurative line of demarcation, if you will, between a legal citizen and an illegal one has been blurred so much, it's tough to discern the rights of one from another. And that's not only wrong, it is inexcusable. I am all for the "melting pot" concept as we forge ahead as a nation rife with illegal immigrant problems. We welcome people from all cultures, religions and social status, as long as those people are willing to become citizens.

In his commentary, "Recognizing reality" (Feb. 5), Robert Pines suggests "The time is ripe for the United States to show tangible support for its closest ally in the Middle East … and to recognize the Golan for what it is: Israeli. " Based on years of tangible support for the state of Israel in the form of billions of dollars in military and non-military aid and vetoes of United Nations resolutions that condemn Israeli transgressions against Arabs and Arab lands and property, among many other displays of loyalty, it would appear that the time has always been ripe for this type of support.

Immigration reform advocates, including a leading voice from Maryland, pressed President Obama on Tuesday for a pathway to citizenship for the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants, calling a bipartisan proposal under consideration in the U.S. Senate "unfair and not acceptable. " A group of eight senators -- including four Republicans and four Democrats -- unveiled the broad outlines of a plan last month that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain permanent residency and eventual citizenship only after tougher border restrictions are in place, a requirement for many Republicans.

The road to meaningful U.S. immigration reform will no doubt prove rocky and difficult, but at least Washington has taken its first big step on the most critical part of the route - down the so-called "path to citizenship" that now has bipartisan support in the Senate. That's quite a change since 2010 when so many in the GOP invoked the term "amnesty" as a dirty word. That's not to suggest that the findings of an eight-person work group have provided the definitive answer for the nation's dysfunctional immigration policy, but getting four prominent Republican senators to sign off on a path to citizenship is a notable accomplishment.

I support a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million because it's the right thing to do. Our immigration laws are broken, and 11 million Americans need our help to find a solution. I personally know some of these hard-working immigrants, and I think it's hurting our country to keep them living in the shadows. I am a first-generation American myself, and I remember the struggles of my parents. We need Congress to protect the path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States and to vote in favor of reform this year.

Every month, Waugh Chapel Elementary School chooses a theme for citizenship awards.The theme in December was "Giving Your Best," with citizenship slips awarded to students who were on their best behavior, worked hard on in-class and homework assignments, helped keep their classroom clean and adhered to the rules.The students honored for good citizenship were: Jessica Alexander, Sheila Baily, Walter Boyd, Kayla Broznowicz, Evan Centineo, Carly Cross, Joan Cruz, Amber Cunningham, Catrina Dailey, Diana Dakai, Lauren Davis, Stephanie DeGroat, Danny Drummond, Nicholas Dukes, Scott Gearhart, Michael Gutierrez, Tanya Harrison, Jeffrey Higginbotham, Ashley Hughs and Elizabeth Hughs.

I've followed the illegal immigration dilemma for decades and would like to see a rational solution to the problem ("An opportune moment for deal on immigration," Nov. 17). Today there are more than 12 million undocumented immigrants in America, and the number continues to grow. But whenever a rational person speaks out with a proposal other than "path to citizenship," they are branded a racist, bigot, xenophobe or worse. Illegal immigration involves human trafficking, misery, poverty, abuse and sometimes death.

The way Francisco Dominguez sees it, a law that would allow him to become a U.S. citizen would benefit everyone. "It would let more people work, which would generate more opportunity," Dominguez, 45, said in Mexican-accented Spanish as he waited on South Broadway in Fells Point one morning last week in the hope that someone might drive by and offer a construction job for the day. "The government would get more taxes, and we would get more money...