Yeah, but you lose sight of that founding principle in what you then allege about it.
THE PRINCIPLE IS BASED UPON LEGITIMATE PRESENCE in the Country, someone being here who does not pose an affrontive, opposing presence by being here.
Someone who creeps, steals and otherwise arrives here by ILLEGAL ACTIONS in defiance of the nation's laws IS NOT someone who is or should be included in that principle.
Our country is generous with citizenship. It's for people who seek it and go about fulfilling the requirements of it.
We DO remove certain citizenship rights from convicted felons and for these very reasons: they display character that is contrary to that to be trusted with certain citizenship rights.
So do illegal aliens.
The principle you're talking about says this:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Being born on our soil and receiving automatic citizenship reinforces the concept that Americans believe that these rights are endowed by our creator and not the gift off the State. If we are to equate American citizenship with freedom and liberty, then we must accept that in principle anyone born within our borders is also endowed with those Rights.
I don't believe that yanking automatic citizenship is going to significantly alter our immigration problems. You have to keep them from getting in. Take away our social benefits and they'll still come. They are drawn here because of the economic opportunity available in this country, and the promise of America - which is liberty and freedom.
I wish everybody in the world could live under similar auspices, in their own countries. If Freedom is God's gift to man, then we should endeavor to continue to recognize that gift and grant our protection to it to those who are born in our country, even if their parents are illegal.
When it comes to legitimizing the parents of a child who was born in our country, the process can be debated, but we should never look at the child and say that it is not one of ours.