Should Birth in the US Automatically Give Citizenship?

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Materials Daily News

Intermediate

Exercise 1

Vocabulary

citizenship

Noun

ˈsɪtɪzənˌʃɪp

the legal right to belong to a particular country

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

candidate

Noun

ˈkændɪˌdeɪt

a person who is trying to be elected

The political candidate gave a speech.

The candidate attended a town meeting.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office.

All of the candidates who are running for president seem to have the same ideas about the economy.

The successful candidate will need excellent organizational skills and be able to prioritize work.

During the election campaign, candidates exaggerated their political promises.

illegally

Adverb

ɪˈliːɡəli

in a way that is not allowed by the law

He crossed the border illegally without any documents.

immigration

Noun

ˌɪməˈgreɪʃən

the process of coming to live permanently in a country that is not your own; the number of people who do this

The fence was built to prevent illegal immigration.

Fixing our immigration system. Freeing ourselves from foreign oil.

senate

Noun

ˈsɛnɪt

one of the two groups of elected politicians who make laws in some countries, for example in the US, Australia, Canada and France. The Senate is smaller than the other group but higher in rank. Many state parliaments in the US also have a Senate

The politician has announced that he will run for the senate.

One third of the Senate are up for election every two years.

legislature

Noun

ˈledʒɪsleɪtʃər

a group of people who have the power to make and change laws

People are elected to be in the legislature.

Exercise 2

Article

AI Generated Audio––:–– / ––:––

Should Birth in the US Automatically Give Citizenship?

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump wants to stop automatically giving U.S. citizenship to anyone who is born in the United States.

Mr. Trump is presidential candidate. He says automatic citizenship is the reason many women come to the United States illegally and give birth.

The Center for Immigration Studies seeks to limit immigration to the United States. It says 30 of the world’s 194 countries give citizenship to people born in their country. But it says the United States and Canada are the only two developed countries that do so. It says some foreign women are entering the United States as what it calls “birth tourists.” It says they are giving birth to 36,000 babies yearly so that their children can become American citizens.

Changing the U.S. Constitution is difficult. At least two-thirds of the House and Senate must support any change. If that happens, the proposed change is sent to the states, where at least 38 of the 50 state legislatures must support it before it can become part of the Constitution.

Exercise 3

Questions

Who is Donald Trump?

What does Mr. Trump want to stop?

How many countries in the world give citizenship to people born in their country?

Exercise 4

Discussion

Are you a citizen of the country you live in?

What do you think: should birth in the US automatically give citizenship?

Do you vote?

Parts of this lesson are based on:

An article by Voice of America.