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Jim Schnitter has it right in "No birthright" (Forum, Aug. 30). We need to change that portion of the 14th Amendment that grants automatic citizenship to anyone born in the United States. However, I would offer a small change to Schnitter's proposal:
Anyone born in the United States shall have the same citizenship as the infant's mother, since in many cases the father is not known or a man may pose as a father for certain considerations. In addition, if the mother becomes a legal U.S. citizen before the baby turns 6 years old, that child shall also be automatically granted citizenship.
During that interval, the mother must have obtained health care insurance for both her and her child for at least the previous four years prior to the child's 6th birthday.
Jim Rooney
West Jordan