CNBC Contributor Ron Insana stated that he was saddened over the fact that the debate over birthright citizenship is “getting down to who has the right to be an American” on Saturday’s “Up with Steve Kornacki” on MSNBC.
After seeing a clip of Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s comments on birthright citizenship, Insana said, “He’s a birthright baby. He would not be here if not for the 14th Amendment. And as are many others. Listen, this whole debate saddens me so profoundly, that it’s getting down to who has the right to be an American. This is exactly what the country was founded on, at least so we think. I mean, you know, obviously Native Americans were here for 14,000 years before white Europeans got here. You know, that’s a debate that is now long gone. But, you know, the notion that, Donald Trump, for instance, is a — on his mother’s side, first-generation American. His mother was born in Scotland, and came here. So, I mean, just because you’re a white European doesn’t mean you have anymore right to be in the United States, and enjoy the benefits of citizenship than if you came from Mexico or another part of Latin America. In fact, the majority of immigrants today are coming from Asia and India, not from Latin America and Mexico.”
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