In response to OP's original question about if anyone believes that the Chinese have a right to birthright citizenship the answer is YES - a lot of people in China are convinced that they have a right to US citizenship, US visas, whatever they want. When I lived in China I met many people - especially college students - who felt they should be allowed to move here and were perpetually angry at the US government and embassy for turning their visa applications down.

All American citizens, regardless of where they live overseas, must file income tax every year. No exceptions. This is probably something many of the tourist babies' parents don't realize.

The tax code is complicated but the essence is that the IRS allows an exemption on foreign earned income for non-residents of the USA of up to around 103,000 USD (goes up about a thousand each year) and you're also allowed to deduct a bit more for housing expenses, and you pay income tax on the remainder (at the tax rate for your full income, FYI).

However, most expats are still subject to the tax codes of the country they work in. If you are working in Europe, you will pay their taxes and as Europeans have higher tax rates than Americans (mostly) you will pay more of your income in tax than were you in the US. The IRS will not double tax you. However, if you're working in a country with a lower tax rate than in the US, you will pay the local taxes, then you can apply the exemption on the remainder of your income, and if any money is left over, you pay income tax on that amount. If you work in a country with no income tax, like the Gulf States, you apply the exemption and your housing deduction allowable, and pay income tax on the rest.

The US tax laws applies to your global earnings. So if one of those Chinese babies grows up and starts a very successful business in China without ever having set foot on US soil, his/her income from the business is still subject to US taxes. Is this fair or not? Well, perhaps that's the price for US citizenship.

(my main issue with the US tax code for overseas expats is that legally, Uncle Sam won't allow individuals to continue to contribute towards their social security and they've also set up the polices that makes it virtually impossible for American companies to continue to pay SS for their American employees working overseas).

Anonymous wrote:Is this really a topic of utmost importance, when PEOTUS wants everyone to know that Arnold Schwarzenegger's ratings for The Apprentice were so so low, so much lowers than Trump's. Indeed, Trump, aka the "ratings machine," destroyed him by comparison. And this is especially important because Schwarzenegger was a supporter of Clinton and Kasisch.

Focus, people! PEOTUS wants us to think about the important things!

If you want to start a thread about The Apprentice, you should totally do it.

Anonymous wrote:

If you are paying taxes to two nations, you absolutely deserve the right to vote in two countries. We paid US and Chinese taxes for nearly a decade and you'd better believe I would have also voted in China had they given me - or anyone living there - the opportunity.

Why did you continue to pay taxes in China? Were you a US citizen?

US citizen. We had to pay Chinese income tax because we worked there. We also had to pay US income taxes, as does every American working abroad. Yet, when we came to visit the US we couldn't get a doctor to see us. We had to go to the ER and pay $1,500. So, we absolutely had a right vote here.

This ain't WWII anymore. The world is globalized. There have been many convictions of Chinese spies in the United States and of Americans spying for China. Look up the very recent cases of Fuyi Sun, Amin Yu, Kun SHan Chun just in the past few months to get started on your education.

This has been going on for years. DOJ has been prosecuting espionage cases against Chinese spies for quite some time. Biomedical technology is a big hacking issue. This is going on across the US. I bet most US attorney's offices are dealing with this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If born on American soil. Yes. Americans.

Yes. Why would this upset anyone?

Espionage, for one thing. You can bet the PLA now has or will soon have operatives who are U.S. Citizens.

Fear mongering?

+1 During WWII, the US interned people of Japanese ancestry for fear they would be spies, etc... The US govt did convict a few spies for the Japanese -- all white American born citizens.

This ain't WWII anymore. The world is globalized. There have been many convictions of Chinese spies in the United States and of Americans spying for China. Look up the very recent cases of Fuyi Sun, Amin Yu, Kun SHan Chun just in the past few months to get started on your education.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/file/841271/download

https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/881161/download

https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/file/843506/download

Anonymous wrote:We need to end this and reverse citizenship of current anchor babies.

Natural born US citizenship cannot be stripped or revoked.

I'm thankful for that, given our country's history with Korematsu.

If you are paying taxes to two nations, you absolutely deserve the right to vote in two countries. We paid US and Chinese taxes for nearly a decade and you'd better believe I would have also voted in China had they given me - or anyone living there - the opportunity.

Why did you continue to pay taxes in China? Were you a US citizen?

* obvs meant paying taxes to a country - not US taxes to a country

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What bothers me is Americans abroad having to pay US taxes even though they haven't lived or worked in the US - some for decades

Has this rule changed? I thought that if you stayed out of the country you did not have to pay? I have a cousin who did this back in the late '70's. He couldn't come home to visit or he had to pay taxes.

Personally, I think that if you are an American citizen, you should not be allowed to have another passport. I think you should have to claim loyalty by the age of 25 if you have the 'right" to two citizenships. That anchor for the Spanish television network voted in Mexico and the US. There is something wrong with that, I think. I suspect that the Americans in Iranian prisons have Iranian passports, too.

Is that really too much to ask? That you be a citizen of only one country?

If you are paying taxes to two nations, you absolutely deserve the right to vote in two countries. We paid US and Chinese taxes for nearly a decade and you'd better believe I would have also voted in China had they given me - or anyone living there - the opportunity.

No you don't deserve the right if you haven't lived in that country for decades. Dual citizens in the UK who have not lived in the UK for more than x years cannot vote in UK elections. Why should they? They don't live there anymore so why should they have they right to have a say in how the country is run?

That's because the UK doesn't make their citizens abroad pay taxes. Only the US does. If you pay US taxes to a country - whether you live there or not - you deserve to vote. Hello, taxation without representation in DC!?! Maybe Trump will change that for DC and Americans abroad if it's so unjust.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What bothers me is Americans abroad having to pay US taxes even though they haven't lived or worked in the US - some for decades

Has this rule changed? I thought that if you stayed out of the country you did not have to pay? I have a cousin who did this back in the late '70's. He couldn't come home to visit or he had to pay taxes.

Personally, I think that if you are an American citizen, you should not be allowed to have another passport. I think you should have to claim loyalty by the age of 25 if you have the 'right" to two citizenships. That anchor for the Spanish television network voted in Mexico and the US. There is something wrong with that, I think. I suspect that the Americans in Iranian prisons have Iranian passports, too.

Is that really too much to ask? That you be a citizen of only one country?

If you are paying taxes to two nations, you absolutely deserve the right to vote in two countries. We paid US and Chinese taxes for nearly a decade and you'd better believe I would have also voted in China had they given me - or anyone living there - the opportunity.

No you don't deserve the right if you haven't lived in that country for decades. Dual citizens in the UK who have not lived in the UK for more than x years cannot vote in UK elections. Why should they? They don't live there anymore so why should they have they right to have a say in how the country is run?

Anonymous wrote:

What bothers me is Americans abroad having to pay US taxes even though they haven't lived or worked in the US - some for decades

Has this rule changed? I thought that if you stayed out of the country you did not have to pay? I have a cousin who did this back in the late '70's. He couldn't come home to visit or he had to pay taxes.

Personally, I think that if you are an American citizen, you should not be allowed to have another passport. I think you should have to claim loyalty by the age of 25 if you have the 'right" to two citizenships. That anchor for the Spanish television network voted in Mexico and the US. There is something wrong with that, I think. I suspect that the Americans in Iranian prisons have Iranian passports, too.

Is that really too much to ask? That you be a citizen of only one country?

Hmmm.. I have never considered the bolded. It is disturbing and a potential conflict of interest that one can vote in two countries.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If born on American soil. Yes. Americans.

Yes. Why would this upset anyone?

Espionage, for one thing. You can bet the PLA now has or will soon have operatives who are U.S. Citizens.

Fear mongering?

+1 During WWII, the US interned people of Japanese ancestry for fear they would be spies, etc... The US govt did convict a few spies for the Japanese -- all white American born citizens.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It doesn't matter what I believe. What matters is the wording of the Constitution.

What matters is the interpretation of the wording of the Constitution. Clearly, there was never any intent to extend citizenship to the children of tourists who give birth here and then leave. What other country does that? Answer: Only Canada to some extent. The right to exclude foreigners is a right every nation in the world enjoys based on state sovereignty. It's time we started enforcing it like the rest of the world.

I agree that wording matters, and this includes the 2nd amendment. I doubt our founding forefathers meant that you could keep an assault rifle.

About 100-150 yrs ago, people felt the same way about the wave of Irish, Polish, Italian, etc.. immigrants.. foreigners are coming here and taking jobs away from Americans and/or depressing the wages, blah blah bal.

Not much has changed in this mindset, I guess.