The United States is a nation of immigrants. In both colossal and small ways, immigrants have contributed to American culture, to its economic and physical growth, political power, and reputation of freedom and opportunity to the world. However, debates about illegal immigration have become more heated and contentious as some have argued that the 14th amendment should only grant citizenship to those children who have at least one legal immigrant parent. I, on the other hand, do not believe that the 14th amendment be interpreted in such a way that only the children of legal immigrants be granted citizenship due to multiple reasons.
In 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment made birthright citizenship a part of the United States Constitution. The Amendment clearly states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Furthermore, the Fourteenth Amendment Section 1 demands, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
…show more content…
Our history has been long and largely known for continuously expanding the community of people as Americans to naturalized citizens of all races and ethnicities. Citizenship has never been denied to any children born in the U.S ever since the United States abolished slavery. This long history of who is an American is critical for our successful acceptance of millions of newcomers. We should not betray this value and instead of amending the constitution to eliminate “anchor babies” which is what opponents of birthright citizenship call U.S. citizens, we should assist them in becoming great American citizens to help contribute to the success of our
As noted in Document 1, the 14th Amendment explicitly affirmed: “…All persons born or naturalized in the United State, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws…” The 14th Amendment ------------ (lead into the 15th amendment) 15th Amendment: The Fifteenth Amendment granted all male citizens, regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” the right to vote.
In Congress, the 13th amendment was passed by the Senate in 1864, and by the House of Representatives on 1865. The 14th amendment states that anyone born in the United States is considered a citizen and
It also stated that everyone born or naturalized in the U.S citizenship no matter what race they were. In 1866 the Civil Rights Bill was passed and it stated that ex-slaves were U.S citizens and also gave them the right to make contracts, sue, be witnessed in court, and also to own land. The president vetoed this bill which also means that he violated the 14th amendment. In his veto statement the president said that the blacks were not qualified for citizenship and also that the bill operates in favour of the blacks and against the whites. The Republicans didn’t have any hope in working with the president to make progress after this and tensions increased.
Women have always wanted equal rights and fought to gain equality. On August 1920 the 19th amendment was ratified into the Constitution. The 19th amendment stated that no one will be denied the right to vote based on your sex. This changed everything for the women in the US. Women everywhere started to work more and started to rely less on men.
The fourteenth amendment is significant to American Civil Rights because it implied the idea of equality to all American citizens for the first time. Furthermore, this amendment granted that we cannot deprive any individual of life, liberty, and property without the process of law, this constitutional right provides each American citizen with equal protection of law. In addition, the fourteenth amendment has been crucial to supreme court decisions; for instance, Brown v. Board of Education is a case that has popularized the fourteenth amendment because it has highlighted that school segregation is unconstitutional and this case also marked the end of legal segregation. Following the influence of the fourteenth amendment, the right to vote was extended to African Americans in the fifteenth amendment; further dispersing equality to American citizens. All in all, the fourteenth amendment has had a huge impact on equality and has influenced infinite court rulings and society.
“Should American Citizenship Be a Birthright” is a debate about immigrants coming over and having kids to give them citizenship in the USA. Many immigrants have “anchor babies” so that they can live in the USA freely along with their newborn child. In this debate they discuss how many undocumented immigrants live here. Also, it is explained that if the country changes the 14th amendment it will not be right, because the USA is made up of immigrants. In Chavez, Linda’s article “The Case for Birthright Citizenship” it is explained how America’s citizenship policy is different than most countries.
The 15th Amendment (Amendment XV), which gave African-American men the right to vote, was inserted into the U.S. Constitution on March 30, 1870. Passed by Congress the year before, the amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Although the amendment was passed in the late 1870s, many racist practices were used to oppose African-Americans from voting, especially in the Southern States like Georgia and Alabama. After many years of racism, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 aimed to overthrow legal barricades at the state and local levels that deny African-Americans their right to vote. In the
Immigration is vital to a nations health, especially America’s, since it was founded by immigrants from Europe. That simple fact is commonly used within the argument of granting amnesty to unlawful immigrants. Amnesty was created in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, which he granted to about 3 million illegal immigrants. In the past 27 years, the United States has experienced a 266% increase in illegal immigrants, putting our nation at 11 million illegal immigrants. Ignoring this problem has, and will, continue to create burdens for hard working and well deserving American citizens.
The 14th amendment is split into five sections. Section one is the most important of them all and it states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (The Constitution 2014). However it was put to test in the south early on.
The most debated topic of birthright citizenship surfaced as soon as the United States started facing the high volume of illegal immigrants. People from all across the globe intended to be part of the Columbus’ discovery. The 14th amendment of 1866 made the topic broader, deeper and more complex. It cannot be denied the fact that the United States has faced the high
In his essay “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” (2011), Jose Antonio Vargas asserts that we should continue immigration reform, and discover a way to grant authorized citizenship for the population who remains here undocumented―and who contribute every day to society. Vargas, a journalist and immigration rights activist, is known for divulging his position as an undocumented immigrant in his essay “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”―in hopes of sparking effective changes to the immigration system in the United States. His argument is that the United States should gradually progress with the DREAM act, and to initiate a sensible and tenable path for the children who suffer from the similar situation. In my analysis of Vargas’s essay,
Denying transgender students the right to use the restroom they identify with is unconstitutional. It is in violation of the 14 amendment, specifically the Equal Protection Clause, Title IX, and would overturn the Auer Doctrine, which would be unbeneficial. Granting some students the right to use the restroom they identify with and denying others is in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The Equal Protection Clause ensures all citizens are protected by the laws, not just those whose biological gender matches their identified gender.
While a number of people think that there should be stricter laws on allowing immigration, people often forget that the United States of America is based on immigrant families. According to a study, “Nearly half of the
The 14th amendment impacts the issue of citizenship due to what it clearly states in the
Good morning sir, I would like to advise about the allowance of immigrants coming to the United States, and their requirements to become an American citizen. Considering some of the obligations to become an American citizen are if you are eighteen years or older you will have to stay in America for at least five years, three unless you are married to an American citizen, you must also have a passport, and you will have to take the Naturalization test. I myself being the dictator of immigrants allowed in the United States think that the immigrants who meet these requirements should be able to become an American citizen. Yes, sir I do know that there has to be obligations for immigrants that are coming, and wanting to become American citizens.