Immigration and the Constitution – Part Two Mr. Mike’s 8th Grade Social Studies

The Law and the Constitution – Basic Ideas The Constitution is our plan for the government. It says how we as a country will organize ourselves. It talks about how we choose people to make decisions on behalf of the country and how those decisions will made. The Constitution also talks about the values we as a country think are important. Laws are specific rules that we make to regulate our behavior. They may be enforced by imposing penalties. Congress creates and passes bills. The President then signs those bills into law. Laws cannot contradict the Constitution.

The Law and the Constitution – Basic Ideas Citizenship is defined in the Fourteenth Amendment as: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside. Naturalization is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen becomes a citizen. A lawful permanent resident is someone who has been granted the right to live in the United States indefinitely. They are eventually given what is called a Green Card. Permanent residence includes the right to work and to ask for your spouse and unmarried children to receive permanent residence and join you. Permanent residents continue to remain the citizen of another country and do not have the right to vote. An undocumented immigrant is someone born in another country who doesn’t have a legal right to be or remain in the United States. An undocumented immigrant is a person who entered the United States illegally without the proper authorization and documents, or is a person who once entered the United States legally and has since violated the terms of the status in which they entered the United States or has overstayed the time limits of their original status.

Immigrants (We get the job done)

Some Background The Constitution does not tell us what kind of immigration policy is right and just. In fact, the Constitution says nothing about regulating who comes into the country. The Constitution does not talk about the rights of non-citizens. U.S. policy regulating immigration and the rights of non-citizens is found in judicial interpretation and law.

Not Social Action, Just Justice A Song for Assata Follow Me

There is Another Way This is not the only way people became citizens. When the Louisiana Territory and Florida entered the Union, the Supreme Court in American Insurance Co. v. 356 Bales of Cotton (1828) said that groups of people can become citizens by declaration or law or treaty. In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War, offered the Mexican inhabitants of the territories ceded to the United States the option of maintaining their Mexican citizenship or, if they made no such request, becoming American citizens.

Criteria for citizenship through naturalization Key criteria for citizenship of the Naturalization Act of 1795 remain part of American law. These include (1) five years of (lawful) residence within the United States; (2) a "good moral character"; (3) the taking of a formal oath to support the Constitution and to renounce any foreign allegiance; and (4) the renunciation of any hereditary titles. Current law also says that you must be able to read, write, and speak English and have knowledge and an understanding of U.S. history and government (civics).

Becoming a Citizen

Undocumented immigrants DO have legal rights As far back as 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that:  The 14th Amendment to the Constitution does not just protect citizens. It says that no state can 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 law. All persons in the U.S., therefore, have constitutional rights. Among these are the right to equal protection of the law and the right to due process.  Also, undocumented persons have a constitutional right under the 4th Amendment to deny any officer from entering their residence without consent, absent a search warrant. The Supreme Court has also said that all children, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to free public education. Finally, under federal law, publicly funded hospitals must provide emergency medical services to all patients, regardless of their immigration status.  Immigrants are also protected from workplace discrimination under state and federal laws.