Citizenship At Birth Under the 14th Amendment

Montana Should Not Deny Rights To Some Americans FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org HELENA, MT – The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana called on state lawmakers to reject a bill proposed by Rep. James Knox that is intended to deny Americans the fundamental protections of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The ACLU made the call after Knox introduced House Bill 392 requiring Montana to deny citizenship to many U.S. citizen babies born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. The bill contradicts the long-standing 14th Amendment guarantee that all people born in the U.S. and under its jurisdiction are citizens of the U.S. and the state in which they reside and equal under the law. If enacted, Knox’s bill is unlikely to survive legal scrutiny since the Constitution can only be changed by amendment, not by state or federal statute. “Montana legislators should not try to subvert the Constitution by declaring some children to be a separate class of people. Citizenship is defined by the Constitution and is not subject to the whims of anti-immigrant politicians,” said Niki Zupanic, Public Policy Director for the ACLU of Montana. “The 14th Amendment was passed precisely to guard against this type of discrimination, which was pervasive in the 19th Century. The very fact that Knox is introducing HB 392 shows just how needed the 14th Amendment is today, more than 100 years after its passage.” Adopted in the aftermath of the Civil War, the 14th Amendment negated one of the Supreme Court’s most infamous rulings, the Dred Scott decision of 1857, which held that neither freed slaves nor their descendants could ever become citizens. The Amendment, which conferred the rights of citizenship on all who were born in this country, including freed slaves, was enacted in response to laws passed by the former Confederate states that prevented African Americans from entering professions, owning or leasing land, accessing public accommodations, serving on juries and voting. In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the guarantee of the 14th Amendment and affirmed the fundamental principle that children born on American soil are U.S. citizens without regard to their parents’ status. In United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Court held that a baby born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who were subjects of China and were prohibited by law from becoming U.S. citizens was a citizen at birth under the 14th Amendment. This principle has been the settled law of the land for more than a century. “Knox’s bill is clearly unconstitutional,” Zupanic said. “Equality under the law is not dependent on a person’s parents. It is guaranteed to every child born in the United States no matter who their parents are or where they came from. This bill flies in the face of the values of equality and fairness that Montanans cherish. Montana lawmakers must stand up for the Constitution and reject this bill.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: media@dcaclu.org WASHINGTON – Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a resolution this week that would radically redefine constitutional citizenship by limiting birth citizenship to only three categories of persons: those with a parent who is a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident residing in the U.S. or in active-duty service in the U.S. Armed Forces. The American Civil Liberties Union strongly opposes any attempt to subvert long-held constitutional guarantees of citizenship at birth and urges Congress to reject any proposal that would do so. The following can be attributed to Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel: “One of the Constitution’s most essential tools to ensure equality and fairness under the law has been the guarantee of citizenship to those born on American soil, regardless of who their parents are or whether Congress approves of them. The right of citizenship at birth has long been the law of the land and for good reason. The 14th Amendment was intended to heal a great wound inflicted on our country after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott, denying citizenship to African-Americans and their descendants. Any proposed subversion of such constitutionally protected rights should be soundly rejected.”

States Should Not Deny Standard Birth Certificates To Some Americans, Says Group FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today called on state lawmakers to reject proposed legislation intended to deny Americans the fundamental protections of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The ACLU made the call after a group of state legislators announced they will introduce bills in their state legislatures that would do just that by requiring states to deny standard birth certificates to many U.S. citizen babies born in the U.S. to immigrant parents. The proposed legislation would also require all people in the U.S., whether citizens or not, to prove their status before they can receive a standard birth certificate for their baby. Currently, there is no such requirement. The proposed legislation directly contradicts the long-standing 14th Amendment guarantee that all people born in the U.S. and under its jurisdiction are citizens of the U.S. and the state in which they reside and subject to equal protection under the law. If enacted, the bills are unlikely to survive legal scrutiny since the Constitution can only be changed by amendment, not by state or federal statute. "Who can be a citizen of the United States and enjoy the equal protection of the law should never be subject to the political and discriminatory whims of the day," said Dennis Parker, Director of the ACLU Racial Justice Project. "The 14th Amendment's birthright guarantee was born in response to the slavery and pervasive discrimination of the 19th century in order to remove race from considerations of citizenship. The fact that legislators are still trying to undermine the citizenship of some Americans shows that the 14th Amendment is clearly as relevant and vital today as it was a hundred years ago." Adopted in the aftermath of the Civil War, the 14th Amendment negated one of the Supreme Court's most infamous rulings, the Dred Scott decision of 1857, which held that neither freed slaves nor their descendants could ever become citizens. The Amendment, which conferred the rights of citizenship on all who were born in this country, including freed slaves, was enacted in response to laws passed by the former Confederate states that prevented African Americans from entering professions, owning or leasing land, accessing public accommodations, serving on juries and voting. "It would be hard to concoct a proposal that is more misguided and contrary to the sacrosanct guarantee of the 14th Amendment. Equality under the law for every person born in the United States is one of the Constitution's central engines of equality and fundamental to our society. The ACLU will challenge any law that erodes the constitutional guarantee of citizenship. These laws cannot survive constitutional scrutiny," said Lucas Guttentag, Director of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project. "In America, our rights do not depend on our parents' status or ancestry." In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the guarantee of the 14th Amendment and affirmed the fundamental principle that children born on American soil are U.S. citizens without regard to their parents' status. In United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Court held that a baby born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who were subjects of China and were prohibited by law from becoming U.S. citizens was a citizen at birth under the 14th Amendment. This principle has been the settled law of the land for more than a century.