Birthright citizenship in the United States

For laws regarding U.S. citizenship, see United States nationality law. For U.S. citizenship (birthright and naturalized), see Citizenship in the United States.

Birthright citizenship in the United States refers to a person's acquisition of United States citizenship by virtue of the circumstances of his or her birth. It contrasts with citizenship acquired in other ways, for example by naturalization later in life. Birthright citizenship may be conferred by jus soli or jus sanguinis. Under United States law, any person born within the United States (including the territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands)^[1] and subject to its jurisdiction is automatically granted U.S. citizenship,^[2] as are many (though not all) children born to American citizens overseas.

Current U.S. law

Citizenship in the United States is a matter of federal law, governed by the United States constitution.

Since the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the constitution on July 9, 1868, the citizenship of persons born in the United States has been controlled by its Citizenship Clause, which 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."^[3]

Statute, by birth within U.S.

As of 2011^[update], United States Federal law (8 U.S.C. § 1401) defines who is a United States citizen from birth. According to that law, the following acquire citizenship at birth:

• "a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof"
• "a person born in the United States to a member of an Indian, Eskimo, Aleutian, or other aboriginal tribe" (see Indian Citizenship Act of 1924).
• "a person of unknown parentage found in the United States while under the age of five years, until shown, prior to his attaining the age of twenty-one years, not to have been born in the United States"
• "a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year at any time prior to the birth of such person"

U.S. territories

There are special provisions governing children born in current and former U.S. territories or possessions, including Puerto Rico, the Panama Canal Zone, Panama, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. There are also special considerations for those born in Alaska and Hawaii before those territories acquired statehood. For example, 8 U.S.C. § 1402 states that "[a]ll persons born in Puerto Rico on or after January 13, 1941, and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are citizens of the United States at birth".^[4]

Outlying possessions

According to 8 U.S.C. § 1408 persons born (or found, and of unknown parentage, under the age of 5) in an outlying possession of the U.S. are U.S. nationals but not citizens, unless otherwise provided in section 1401. The U.S. State Department has a publication, Acquisition of U.S. Nationality in U.S. Territories and Possessions which explains the complexities of this topic.

Statute, by parentage

Under certain circumstances, U.S. citizenship can be acquired from one's parents. The following conditions affect children born outside the U.S. and its outlying possessions to married parents (special conditions affect children born out of wedlock: see below):^[5]

• If both parents are U.S. citizens, the child is a citizen if either of the parents has ever legally resided in the U.S. prior to the child's birth
• If one parent is a U.S. citizen and the other parent is a U.S. national, the child is a citizen if the U.S. citizen parent has lived in the U.S. for a continuous period of at least one year prior to the child's birth
• If one parent is a U.S. citizen and the other parent is not, the child is a citizen if
  • the U.S. citizen parent has been "physically present"^[6] in the U.S. before the child's birth for a total period of at least five years, and
  • at least two of those five years were after the U.S. citizen parent's fourteenth birthday.

Children born overseas out of wedlock

There is an asymmetry in the way citizenship status of children born overseas to unmarried parents, only one of whom is a U.S. citizen, is handled.

Title 8 U.S.C. § 1409 paragraph (c) provides that children born abroad after December 24, 1952 to unmarried American mothers are U.S. citizens, as long as the mother has lived in the U.S. for a continuous period of at least one year at any time prior to the birth.

8 U.S.C. § 1409 paragraph (a) provides that children born to American fathers unmarried to the children's non-American mothers are considered U.S. citizens only if the father meets the "physical presence" conditions described above, and the father takes several actions:

• Unless deceased, has agreed to provide financial support to the child until he reaches 18,
• Establish paternity by clear and convincing evidence and, while the person is under the age of 18 years
  • the person is legitimated under the law of the person’s residence or domicile,
  • the father acknowledges paternity of the person in writing under oath, or
  • the paternity of the person is established by adjudication of a competent court.
    • 8 U.S.C. § 1409 paragraph (a) provides that acknowledgement of paternity can be shown by acknowledging paternity under oath and in writing; having the issue adjudicated by a court; or having the child otherwise "legitimated" by law.

Because of this rule, unusual cases have arisen whereby children have been fathered by American men overseas from non-American women, brought back to the United States as babies without the mother, raised by the American father in the United States, and later held to be deportable as non-citizens in their 20s.^[7][8] The final element has taken an especially significant importance in these circumstances, as once the child has reached 18, the father is forever unable to establish paternity to deem his child a citizen.^[9]

This distinction between unwed American fathers and American mothers was constructed and reaffirmed by Congress out of concern that a flood of illegitimate Korean and Vietnamese children would later claim American citizenship as a result of their parentage by American servicemen overseas fighting wars in their countries.^[10] In many cases, American servicemen passing through in wartime may not have even learned they had fathered a child.^[10] In 2001, the Supreme Court, by 5-4 majority in Tuan Anh Nguyen v. INS, first established the constitutionality of this gender distinction.^[7][8]

Eligibility for office of President

Main article: Natural born citizen clause of the U.S. Constitution

According to the Constitution of the United States only natural born citizens are eligible to serve as President of the United States or as Vice President. The text of the Constitution does not define what is meant by natural born: in particular it does not specify whether there is any distinction to be made between persons whose citizenship is based on jus sanguinis (parentage) and those whose citizenship is based on jus soli (birthplace). As a result, controversies have arisen over the eligibility of a number of candidates for the office.

Legal history

Throughout much of the history of the United States, the fundamental legal principle governing citizenship has been that birth within the territorial limits of the United States confers United States citizenship,^[11] although the United States did not grant citizenship to all black former slaves until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which was subsequently confirmed by the Fourteenth Amendment. American Indian tribal members are not covered specifically by the constitutional guarantee, but they were made citizens automatically by the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.

English common law

Many claim that birthright citizenship, as with much United States law, has its roots in English common law.^[12] Calvin’s Case, 77 Eng. Rep. 377 (1608), was particularly important as it established that under English common law “a person's status was vested at birth, and based upon place of birth—a person born within the king's dominion owed allegiance to the sovereign, and in turn, was entitled to the king's protection."^[13] This same principle was adopted by the newly formed United States, as stated by Supreme Court Justice Noah Haynes Swayne: "All persons born in the allegiance of the king are natural-born subjects, and all persons born in the allegiance of the United States are natural-born citizens. Birth and allegiance go together. Such is the rule of the common law, and it is the common law of this country as well as of England...since as before the Revolution.^[14]" United States v. Rhodes, 27 Fed. Cas. 785 (1866). However, Calvin's Case is distinguishable, as a Scotsman was granted title to English land as his King and England's King (James) were one and the same.^[15] Calvin was not born in England.^[16] Moreover, in Calvin's Case, Lord Coke cited examples in which the native-born children of parents, either invading the country or who were enemies of the country, were not natural-born subjects because the birth lacked allegiance and obedience to the sovereign.^[17]

Federal law

The Naturalization Act of 1790 (1 Stat. 103) provided the first rules to be followed by the United States in the granting of national citizenship. Since that time, laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United States have undergone a number of revisions.

1857 Dissenting Opinion of Supreme Court Justice Benjamin R. Curtis

Justice Roger B. Taney in the majority opinion in Dred Scott v. Sanford 60 U.S. (How. 19) 393 (1857) held that African Americans had never been and could never become citizens of the United States. Political scientist Stuart Streichler writes of the decision that Taney's decision was based on "a skewed reading of history.".^[18] Justice Benjamin R. Curtis in his dissent showed that under the Articles of Confederation blacks had been citizens in five states and carried that citizenship forward when the Constitution was ratified.^[19] and wrote:

The first section of the second article of the Constitution uses the language "a natural-born citizen." It thus assumes that citizenship may be acquired by birth. Undoubtedly, this language of the Constitution was used in reference to that principle of public law, well understood in the history of this country at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, which referred Citizenship to the place of birth. At the Declaration of Independence, and ever since, the received general doctrine has been, in conformity with the common law, that free persons born within either of the colonies, were the subjects of the King; that by the Declaration of independence, and the consequent acquisition of sovereignty by the several States, all such persons ceased to be subjects, and became citizens of the several States ... The Constitution has left to the States the determination what person, born within their respective limits, shall acquire by birth citizenship of the United States...^[20]

1862 opinion of the U.S. Attorney General

In 1862, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase sent a query to Attorney General Edward Bates asking whether or not "colored men" can be citizens of the United States. Attorney General Bates responded on November 29, 1862, with a 27-page opinion concluding, "I conclude that the free man of color, mentioned in your letter, if born in the United States, is a citizen of the United States, ...^[21][italics in original]" In the course of that opinion, Bates commented at some length on the nature of citizenship, and wrote,

... our constitution, in speaking of natural born citizens, uses no affirmative language to make them such, but only recognizes and reaffirms the universal principle, common to all nations, and as old as political society, that the people born in a country do constitute the nation, and, as individuals, are natural members of the body politic.

If this be a true principle, and I do not doubt it, it follows that every person born in a country is, at the moment of birth, prima facie a citizen; and who would deny it must take upon himself the burden of proving some great disfranchisement strong enough to override the natural born right as recognized by the Constitution in terms the most simple and comprehensive, and without any reference to race or color, or any other accidental circumstance.^[22][italics in original]

Civil Rights Act of 1866

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared: "...all persons born in the United States, and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States."^[23]

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Since the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution on July 9, 1868, citizenship of persons born in the United States has been controlled by its Citizenship Clause, which 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."^[3]

Expatriation Act of 1868

This act, a companion piece to the Fourteenth Amendment, was approved on 27 July 1868.^[24]

The Expatriation Act of 1868 led President Ulysses S. Grant to write, in 1873, that the United States had "led the way in the overthrow of the feudal doctrine of perpetual allegiance".^[25]

Dr. Edward J. Erler of California State University, San Bernardino, and Dr. Brook Thomas of the University of California, Irvine, have argued that this Act was an explicit rejection of birth-right citizenship as the ground for American citizenship,^[26] basing that argument on the debate that surrounded the passage of this act.^[27][28]

1873 opinion of Attorney General

In 1873, The United States Attorney General published the following legal opinion concerning the Fourteenth Amendment:

"The word 'jurisdiction' must be understood to mean absolute and complete jurisdiction, such as the United States had over its citizens before the adoption of this amendment. Aliens, among whom are persons born here and naturalized abroad, dwelling or being in this country, are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States only to a limited extent. Political and military rights and duties do not pertain to them."^[29]

Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

Main article: Indian Citizenship Act of 1924

The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924^[30] provided "That all noncitizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States". This same provision (slightly reworded) is contained in present-day law as section 301(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (8 USC 1401(b)).

U.S. Supreme Court case law

Sailor's Snug Harbor

In Inglis v. Trustees of Sailor's Snug Harbor, 28 U.S. 99 (1830) the Court negotiated the question of the disposition of an estate of a man born in New York in 1776, the Court resolves complicated questions of how citizenship was derived during the War of Independence. The court finds that jus soli is so consistent in American law as to automatically grant American citizenship to children born in New York City between July 4, 1776 and September 15, 1776, but not to children born in that city during the British occupation which followed September 15 of that year.^[31]

"Nothing is better settled at the common law than the doctrine that the children even of aliens born in a country while the parents are resident there under the protection of the government and owing a temporary allegiance thereto are subjects by birth.."

The Slaughter-House Cases

In the Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873) — a civil rights case not dealing specifically with birthright citizenship — a Supreme Court majority mentioned in passing that "the phrase 'subject to its jurisdiction' was intended to exclude from its operation children of ministers, consuls, and citizens or subjects of foreign States born within the United States".^[32]

Elk v. Wilkins

In Elk v. Wilkins, 112 U.S. 94 (1884), the Supreme Court denied the birthright citizenship claim of an American Indian. The court ruled that being born in the territory of the United States is not sufficient for citizenship; those who wish to claim citizenship by birth must be born subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. The court's majority held that the children of Native Americans were

"no more 'born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,' within the meaning of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment, than the children of subjects of any foreign government born within the domain of that government, or the children born within the United States of ambassadors or other public ministers of foreign nations."^[33]

Thus, Native Americans who voluntarily quit their tribes would not automatically become U.S. citizens.^[34] Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship by Congress half a century later in the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, which rendered the Elk decision obsolete.

United States v. Wong Kim Ark

In the case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), the Supreme Court ruled that a person who

• is born in the United States
• of parents who, at the time of his birth, are subjects of a foreign power
• whose parents have a permanent domicile and residence in the United States
• whose parents are there carrying on business and are not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity of the foreign power to which they are subject

becomes, at the time of his birth, a citizen of the United States by virtue of the first clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

Canadians transferred to U.S. hospitals

Since the majority of Canadians live in the relatively narrow strip of land close to the long border with the United States, Canadians in need of urgent care are occasionally transferred to nearby American medical facilities. In some circumstances, Canadian mothers facing a high-risk delivery have given birth in American hospitals. Such children are American citizens by birthright.^[35] Since, in this regard, Canadian law is similar to that of the U.S., children born in Canada of American parents are also Canadian citizens by birthright.^[36] In both situations that birthright citizenship is passed on to their children. In some cases birth in an American hospital (sometimes called "border babies") has resulted in people living much of their lives in Canada and unknowingly never holding Canadian citizenship, a group sometimes called Lost Canadians.^[37]

Current controversy

Original meaning

During the original debate over the 14th Amendment Senator Jacob M. Howard of Michigan—the sponsor of the Citizenship Clause—described the clause as having the same content, despite different wording, as the earlier Civil Rights Act of 1866, namely, that it excludes American Indians who maintain their tribal ties and "persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers."^[38] Others also agreed that the children of ambassadors and foreign ministers were to be excluded.^[39][40] However, concerning the children born in the United States to parents who are not U.S. citizens (and not foreign diplomats), three senators, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lyman Trumbull, the author of the Civil Rights Act, as well as President Andrew Johnson, asserted that both the Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment would confer citizenship on them at birth, and no senator offered a contrary opinion.^[41][42][43]

Most of the debate on this section of the Amendment centered on whether the wording in the Civil Rights Act or Howard's proposal more effectively excluded Aboriginal Americans on reservations and in U.S. territories from citizenship. Senator James R. Doolittle of Wisconsin asserted that all Native Americans are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, so that the phrase "Indians not taxed" would be preferable,^[44] but Trumbull and Howard disputed this, arguing that the U.S. government did not have full jurisdiction over Native American tribes, which govern themselves and make treaties with the United States.^[45][46]

Edward Erler argues that since the Wong Kim Ark case dealt with someone whose parents were in the United States legally, there is no valid basis under the 14th Amendment for the practice of granting citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants: "Even if the logic is that Wong Kim Ark became a citizen by birth with the permission of the United States when it admitted his parents to the country, no such permission has been given to those who enter illegally."^[47] Angelo Ancheta, by contrast, criticizes the "consent-based theory of citizenship", saying that "The Fourteenth Amendment was designed to ensure citizenship for 'all persons' born in the United States, particularly in response to ambiguities in legal status that attached to being the descendants of an outsider class, namely slaves."^[48]

Modern dispute

In the late 1990s opposition arose over the longstanding practice of granting automatic citizenship on a jus soli basis^[49] as fears grew in some circles that the existing law encouraged parents-to-be to come to the United States to have children in order to improve the parents' chances of attaining legal residency themselves.^[50][51] Some media correspondents^[52][53] and public leaders, including former congressman Virgil Goode, have controversially dubbed this the "anchor baby" situation,^[54][55] and politicians have proposed legislation on this basis that might alter how birthright citizenship is awarded.^[56]

The Pew Hispanic Center determined that according to an analysis of Census Bureau data about 8 percent of children born in the United States in 2008 — about 340,000 — were offspring of unauthorized immigrants. In total, 4 million U.S.-born children of unauthorized immigrant parents resided in this country in 2009, alongside 1.1 million foreign-born children of unauthorized immigrant parents.^[57]

Bills have been introduced from time to time in Congress which have sought to declare U.S.-born children of foreign nationals not to be subject to the "jurisdiction" of the United States, and thus not entitled to citizenship via the 14th Amendment, unless at least one parent were a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident. For example, Representative Nathan Deal (a Republican from Georgia) introduced the "Citizenship Reform Act of 2005" (H.R. 698) in the 109th Congress,^[58] the "Birthright Citizenship Act of 2007" (H.R. 1940)^[59] in the 110th Congress, and the "Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009" (H.R. 1868)^[60] in the 111th Congress. Neither these nor any similar bills, however, have ever been approved by Congress.

Some legislators, unsure whether such acts of Congress would survive court challenges, have proposed that the Citizenship Clause be changed through a constitutional amendment.^[61] Senate Joint Resolution 6, introduced on January 16, 2009 in the 111th Congress, proposes such an amendment;^[62] however, neither this, nor any other proposed amendment, has yet been approved by Congress for ratification by the states.

The most recent judge to weigh in on the issue as to whether a constitutional amendment would be necessary to change the policy is Judge Richard Posner who remarked in a 2003 case that "Congress would not be flouting the Constitution if it amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to put an end to the nonsense." He explained, "A constitutional amendment may be required to change the rule whereby birth in this country automatically confers U.S. citizenship, but I doubt it." Posner also wrote, that automatic birthright citizenship is a policy that "Congress should rethink" and that the United States "should not be encouraging foreigners to come to the United States solely to enable them to confer U.S. citizenship on their future children."^[63]

Professor Edward J. Erler, California State University, has argued that "Congress began to pass legislation offering citizenship to Indians on a tribe by tribe basis. Finally, in 1923, there was a universal offer to all tribes. Any Indian who consented could become an American citizen. This citizenship was based on reciprocal consent: an offer on the part of the U.S. and acceptance on the part of an individual. Thus Congress used its legislative powers under the Fourteenth Amendment to determine who was within the jurisdiction of the U.S. It could make a similar determination today, based on this legislative precedent, that children born in the U.S. to illegal aliens are not subject to American jurisdiction. A constitutional amendment is no more required now than it was in 1923."^[64]

Republicans in the border state of Arizona have indicated an intention to introduce state legislation which would seek to deny U.S. citizenship to Arizona-born children of illegal immigrant parents by prohibiting the issuance of a birth certificate unless at least one parent has legal status.^[65][66]

See also

• Birthright citizenship in other jurisdictions
• United States nationality law
• Citizenship in the United States
• Birth tourism
• Natural-born citizen
• Birther

Notes

• All Senate debate quotes are from the Congressional Globe (precursor of the Congressional Record) for the 39th Congress, 1st Session. P. 2890-95.

References

1. ^ See 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(36) and 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(38) Providing the term “State” and "United States" definitions on the U.S. Federal Code, Immigration and Nationality Act 8 U.S.C. § 1101a.
2. ^ Weiner 1998, p. 238.
3. ^ ^{a b} Meese 2005, p. 35
4. ^ INA: ACT 302 - PERSONS BORN IN PUERTO RICO, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
5. ^ 8 U.S.C. § 1401
6. ^ including, in some circumstances, time spent overseas when a parent who is a U.S. government employee is posted overseas
7. ^ ^{a b} Findlaw.com: Nguyen v. INS, 533 U.S. 53 (2001)
8. ^ ^{a b} Cornell University Law School: Nguyen v. INS, 533 U.S. 53 (2001).
9. ^ Under a fact situation similar to Nguyen, the effect might be different today if the child's 18th birthday were after February 27, 2001, as per the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, the child might automatically become a U.S. citizen upon admission to the country as a lawful permanent resident. This type of citizenship, however, is not considered "birthright" or natural, and the subject would most likely be construed as a "naturalized" citizen. See the U.S. Department of State's page on the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.
10. ^ ^{a b} US v. Ahumada-Aguilar, 189 F.3d 1121 (9th Cir. 1999)
11. ^ Walter Dellinger, Assistant Attorney General (December 13, 1995), "Legislation denying citizenship at birth to certain children born in the United States", Memoranda and Opinions (Office of Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice), http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/deny.tes.31.htm, retrieved January 4, 2007, "A bill that would deny citizenship to children born in the United States to certain classes of alien parents is unconstitutional on its face. A constitutional amendment to restrict birthright citizenship, although not technically unlawful, would flatly contradict the Nation's constitutional history and constitutional traditions." .
12. ^ Schuck 2006, p. 96
13. ^ Justice, Elaine (October 7, 1996), "Price questions whether birthright citizenship will continue", Emory Report (Emory University), http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/1996/October/ERoct.7/10_7_96price_questions.html, retrieved January 4, 2007 .
14. ^ The American law register. D.B. Canfield & Co.. 1868. pp. 237. http://books.google.com/books?id=1mIuAAAAIAAJ. 
15. ^ See Steve Sheppard, ed., The Selected Writings of Sir Edward Coke, 166 (Liberty Fund 2003).
16. ^ Sheppard, Writings of Sir Edward Coke, 166.
17. ^ Calvin's Case, 77 Eng. Rep. at 384, 399, 406-07 (1608).
18. ^ Streichler (2005) p. 123
19. ^ Streichler (2005) p. 126
20. ^ United States.; Supreme Court, Dred Scott, John F. A. Sanford, Benjamin Chew Howard (1857), ": Dred Scott, John F. A. Sanford, Benjamin Chew Howard", A Report of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Opinions of the Judges Thereof, in, D. Appleton, pp. 576–582, http://books.google.com/?id=2LoDAAAAQAAJ .
21. ^ Bates, Edward (1862), Opinion of Attorney General Bates on Citizenship, Government Printing Office, pp. 26–27, http://books.google.com/?id=zo5EJE0sorgC .
22. ^ Bates 1862, p. 12, Op. cit.
23. ^ "The 1866 Civil Rights Act". 14 Stat. 27-30. April 9, 1866. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/activism/ps_1866.html. Retrieved September 3,. 
24. ^ Expatriation Act, 14th-amendment.com, quoting Sanger 1869, pp. 223–224, http://www.14th-amendment.com/Statutes_Proclamations/Statutes/FORTIETH_CONGRESS-Sess._II.-Ch._249/page_frame.htm .
25. ^ Snow (1893), Cases and Opinions on International Law, p. 218.
26. ^ Transcript, Testimony of Edward J. Erler before the House Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, June 25, 1997.
27. ^ Erler 2003, pp. 191–192, Erler 2007, pp. 50–51
28. ^ Thomas 2007, pp. 193–194.
29. ^ 14 U.S. Attorney General Opinions 300.
30. ^ 43 United States Statutes at Large 253.
31. ^ INGLIS V. TRUSTEES OF SAILOR'S SNUG HARBOR, 28 U. S. 99 (1830), U.S. Supreme Court Center, justia.com.
32. ^ 83 U.S. at 73.
33. ^ 112 U.S. at 102.
34. ^ Urofsky, Melvin I.; Finkelman, Paul (2002). A March of Liberty: A Constitutional History of the United States. 1 (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195126351. http://books.google.com/books?id=LQVDZ9jg8m0C. 
35. ^ Some Canadian mothers forced to give birth in U.S., KOMO TV News, http://www.komonews.com/news/10216201.html, retrieved January 31, 2009 
36. ^ Citizenship Act PART I: THE RIGHT TO CITIZENSHIP, Federation of Law Societies of Canada, http://www.canlii.org/ca/sta/c-29/sec3.html, retrieved February 10, 2009 
37. ^ Citizenship and Immigration Canada True or False? Children born outside of Canada, Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/facts/born_outside.asp, retrieved October 26, 2010 
38. ^ Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 39th Congress, pt. 4, p. 2893 Senator Reverdy Johnson said in the debate: "Now, all this amendment provides is, that all persons born in the United States and not subject to some foreign Power—for that, no doubt, is the meaning of the committee who have brought the matter before us—shall be considered as citizens of the United States...If there are to be citizens of the United States entitled everywhere to the character of citizens of the United States, there should be some certain definition of what citizenship is, what has created the character of citizen as between himself and the United States, and the amendment says citizenship may depend upon birth, and I know of no better way to give rise to citizenship than the fact of birth within the territory of the United States, born of parents who at the time were subject to the authority of the United States."
39. ^ Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 39th Congress, pt. 4, p. 2897.
40. ^ Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 39th Congress, pt. 1, p. 572.
41. ^ Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 39th Congress, pt. 1, p. 498.The debate on the Civil Rights Act contained the following exchange:
    Mr. Cowan: “I will ask whether it will not have the effect of naturalizing the children of Chinese and Gypsies born in this country?”
    Mr. Trumbull: “Undoubtedly.”
    ...
    Mr. Trumbull: “I understand that under the naturalization laws the children who are born here of parents who have not been naturalized are citizens. This is the law, as I understand it, at the present time. Is not the child born in this country of German parents a citizen? I am afraid we have got very few citizens in some of the counties of good old Pennsylvania if the children born of German parents are not citizens.”
    Mr. Cowan: “The honorable Senator assumes that which is not the fact. The children of German parents are citizens; but Germans are not Chinese; Germans are not Australians, nor Hottentots, nor anything of the kind. That is the fallacy of his argument.”
    Mr. Trumbull: “If the Senator from Pennsylvania will show me in the law any distinction made between the children of German parents and the children of Asiatic parents, I may be able to appreciate the point which he makes; but the law makes no such distinction; and the child of an Asiatic is just as much of a citizen as the child of a European.”
42. ^ Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 39th Congress, pt. 4, pp. 2891-2 During the debate on the Amendment, Senator John Conness of California declared, "The proposition before us, I will say, Mr. President, relates simply in that respect to the children begotten of Chinese parents in California, and it is proposed to declare that they shall be citizens. We have declared that by law [the Civil Rights Act]; now it is proposed to incorporate that same provision in the fundamental instrument of the nation. I am in favor of doing so. I voted for the proposition to declare that the children of all parentage, whatever, born in California, should be regarded and treated as citizens of the United States, entitled to equal Civil Rights with other citizens.".
43. ^ See veto message by President Andrew Johnson.
44. ^ Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 39th Congress, pt. 4, pp. 2890,2892-4,2896.
45. ^ Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 39th Congress, pt. 4, p. 2893. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lyman Trumbull, participating in the debate, stated the following: "What do we [the committee reporting the clause] mean by 'subject to the jurisdiction of the United States'? Not owing allegiance to anybody else. That is what it means." He then proceeded to expound upon what he meant by "complete jurisdiction": "Can you sue a Navajoe Indian in court?...We make treaties with them, and therefore they are not subject to our jurisdiction....If we want to control the Navajoes, or any other Indians of which the Senator from Wisconsin has spoken, how do we do it? Do we pass a law to control them? Are they subject to our jurisdiction in that sense?....Would he [Sen. Doolittle] think of punishing them for instituting among themselves their own tribal regulations? Does the Government of the United States pretend to take jurisdiction of murders and robberies and other crimes committed by one Indian upon another?...It is only those persons who come completely within our jurisdiction, who are subject to our laws, that we think of making citizens."
46. ^ Congressional Globe, 1st Session, 39th Congress, pt. 4, p. 2895.Howard additionally stated the word jurisdiction meant "the same jurisdiction in extent and quality as applies to every citizen of the United States now" and that the United States possessed a “full and complete jurisdiction” over the person described in the amendment.
47. ^ Erler et al., The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration: Principles and Challenges in America, p. 67.
48. ^ Angelo N. Ancheta, Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience, p. 103.
49. ^ Lee, Margaret (12 May 2006), U.S. Citizenship of Persons Born in the United States to Alien Parents, Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, http://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs/data/2006/upl-meta-crs-9011/RL33079_2006May12.pdf?PHPSESSID=1ca373c497c7db6a81c7ca74a1445530.pdf, retrieved August 16, 2008  (brief record)
    ^ Lee, Margaret (13 September 2005), U.S. Citizenship of Persons Born in the United States to Alien Parents, ilw.com, http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2005,0926-crs.pdf, retrieved May 30, 2010  (full text)
50. ^ "[...] During that debate, Senator Edgar Cowan of Pennsylvania objected to the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment. 'Is the child of the Chinese immigrant in California a citizen?' he asked on the Senate floor. Senator John Conness of California said the answer should be 'yes.' 'The children of all parentage whatever, born in California, should be regarded and treated as citizens of the United States, entitled to equal civil rights with other citizens,' Mr. Conness said.", Robert Pear (August 7, 1996), Citizenship Proposal Faces Obstacle in the Constitution, New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E7DE143EF934A3575BC0A960958260 
51. ^ 'Border baby' boom strains S. Texas, Houston Chronicle, September 24, 2006, http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2006_4196974, retrieved August 2, 2008 
52. ^ Simmons, Kathryn. "Anchor babies tie illegal immigrants to U.S." NBC2 News. November 25, 2005.
53. ^ Erbe, Bonnie. "Anchor Babies hurt working class." Seattle Times. May 18, 2005.
54. ^ Goode-Perriello Exchange, Sorensen Institute Candidates' Forum, September 3, 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhCEjT-Mgwo, retrieved October 3, 2008 
55. ^ Rep. Gayle Harrell says immigration is 'No. 1 issue', Fort-Pierce Tribune, June 30, 2008, http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jun/30/30gtharrell-immigration-no-1-issue/, retrieved July 14, 2008 
56. ^ Washington Times: "GOP mulls ending birthright citizenship: November 3, 2005
57. ^ Pew Hispanic Center: "Unauthorized Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children" August 11, 2010
58. ^ Citizenship Reform Act of 2005.
59. ^ Birthright Citizenship Act of 2007.
60. ^ Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009.
61. ^ U.S. Representative Anthony Beilenson (D-CA). "Case for Correction By Constitutional Amendment." The Social Contract. Volume 7, Number 1 (Fall 1996).
62. ^ S. J. Res. 6, thomas.loc.gov, January 16, 2009, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:S.J.RES.6:, retrieved February 27, 2009 
63. ^ Oforji v. Ashcroft, 354 F.3d 609, 620-1 (2003). See also, Jon Feere, "Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A Global Comparison," Center for Immigration Studies, August 2010, http://www.cis.org/birthright-citizenship
64. ^ Hearing on the Citizenship Reform Act of 1997 (H.R. 7), Before the House Comm. on the Judiciary, Subcomm. on Immigration and Claims (June 25, 1997); http://judiciary.house.gov/legacy/6042.htm. See also, Jon Feere, "Birthright Citizenship in the United States: A Global Comparison," Center for Immigration Studies, August 2010, http://www.cis.org/birthright-citizenship
65. ^ "Arizona bill would deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants", CNN, June 15, 2010.
66. ^ "Arizona's Next Immigration Target: Children of Illegals", Time.com, June 11, 2010.

• Erler, Edward J (2003), "From Subjects to citizens: The Social Origins of American Citizenship", in Pestritto, Ronald J., The American founding and the social compact (illustrated ed.), Lexington Books, ISBN 9780739106655, http://books.google.com/books?id=NCwvLfKT9qMC&pg=PA163 .
• Erler, Edward J; Thomas G West, John A Marini (2007), The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration: Principles and Challenges in America, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 074255855X, http://books.google.com/?id=yTA0NyesVbcC .
• Erler, Edward J.; Thomas G. West, John A. Marini (2007), "American Citizenship and Postmodern Challenges", The founders on citizenship and immigration: principles and challenges in America, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 9780742558557, http://books.google.com/books?id=yTA0NyesVbcC&pg=PA25 .
• Mayton, William T. (2008). "Birthright Citizenship and the Civic Minimum". Georgetown Immigration Law Journal (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown Immigration Law Journal) 22 (221). 
• Sanger, George P., ed. (1869), Statutes at Large and Proclamations, of the United States of America. From December 1867-March 1869, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=015/llsl015.db&recNum=2 .
• Schuck, Peter H. (2006), Diversity in America: Keeping Government at a Safe Distance, Harvard University Press, ISBN 9780674018549, http://books.google.com/?id=6RCfAdTWiYYC .
• Thomas, Brook (2007), Civic Myths: A Law-and-literature Approach to Citizenship (illustrated ed.), UNC Press, ISBN 9780807831533, http://books.google.com/?id=JOj_ON_UrO0C .
• Weiner, Myron (1998), Migration and Refugees: in the United States and Germany, Providence, RI: Berghahn Books, ISBN 1571810919, http://books.google.com/?id=KoUR2fcXSKQC .

Further reading

• Ancheta, Angelo N. (1998), Race, Rights, and the Asian American Experience, Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, ISBN 0813524644, http://books.google.com/?id=Uc_q6upNmugC .
• Carlisle, Rodney P.; Golson, J. Geoffrey (2007), A House Divided During the Civil War Era (illustrated ed.), ABC-CLIO, ISBN 9781851098811, http://books.google.com/?id=bgpnJjHaJ-cC .
• Meese, Edwin; Edwin Meese, III, David F. Forte, Matthew Spalding (2005), The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, Regnery Publishing, ISBN 9781596980013, http://books.google.com/?id=-_8N3UeXeesC .
• Ridgell, Reilly (1995), Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, Bess Press, ISBN 9781573060011, http://books.google.com/?id=p3liL6fAjrcC .
• Streichler, Stuart (2005), Justice Curtis in the Civil War Era, ISBN 0813923425 .

External links

• Ho, James C (March 10, 2007), "Can Congress Repeal Birthright Citizenship?", The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles Times), http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-oe-ho10mar10,1,3646198.story?coll=la-news-comment