Joe Guzzardi (Sunday, Aug. 29 op-ed) states that “An illegal alien from Mexico, for example, is not ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States...” This, of course presents a most interesting paradox. If that person is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, then what legal right does the United States have to prosecute that person for his or her presence in the United States? In reality, the only persons born in the United States not subject to its jurisdiction are children of foreign diplomats — the so-called “diplomatic immunity” which protects them from any prosecution by the United States.
So which is it to be, Mr Guzzardi: Are newborn children born in the United States of illegal immigrants who have lived in the United States for decades subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, or are they immune from such jurisdiction? And in what way is that newborn child different from you when you were a newborn child?
Salem Spitz, Gilbert
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