Americans for Constitutional Citizenship
Americans for Constitutional Citizenship is a nationwide coalition of organizations and individuals who support the American Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Ratified in 1868 in the wake of the Civil War, the Citizenship Clause guarantees that all children born in the United States (with minor exceptions for children of foreign diplomats and invading forces) are citizens.
The Citizenship Clause's guarantee has been profoundly beneficial for our nation. It has served as a cornerstone of the movement to secure civil rights for all Americans, including the right to vote. And it has played an important role in unifying America's great cultural diversity, which serves as a role model for the rest of the world. Undermining the Citizenship Clause would have many other disastrous effects for everyone in our nation.
Repeal of Citizenship Clause Would Carry Heavy ConsequencesMay 12, 2011 - Posted by The Leadership Conference Instead of helping to fix the U.S.’s broken immigration system, repealing or limiting the scope of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment would actually make things worse by increasing the number of undocumented immigrants and creating significant bureaucratic and financial burdens for all Americans, according to a panel of immigration and civil rights experts. Born in the USA? CAP Panel Reveals Support for Constitutional CitizenshipApril 4, 2011 - Posted by Avril Lighty Recent attacks on constitutional citizenship are unfounded and distract from the vital task of building support for comprehensive immigration reform, according to conservative and progressive legal experts. Americans for Constitutional Citizenship Coalition Now More than 80 Groups and IndividualsMarch 28, 2011 - Posted by Tyler Lewis Americans for Constitutional Citizenship (ACC), a coalition dedicated to preserving the integrity of our nation’s Constitution and its guarantee of citizenship to all persons born in the United States, is now more than 80 civil and human rights organizations strong. Civil Rights Groups Block State Attacks on Constitutional CitizenshipFebruary 10, 2011 - Posted by The Leadership Conference Civil rights groups have successfully defeated legislation that would redefine state citizenship in South Dakota. Americans for Constitutional Citizenship Denounces Anti-Citizenship ResolutionJanuary 28, 2011 - Posted by Tyler Lewis Americans for Constitutional Citizenship (ACC) is opposing a resolution introduced by Sens. David Vitter, R. La., and Rand Paul, R. Ky., which would deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to undocumented immigrants. Civil Rights Groups Announce Coalition to Protect American CitizenshipJanuary 5, 2011 - Posted by Tyler Lewis Today, a group of civil and human rights organizations and legal scholars announced the formation of a new coalition, called Americans for Constitutional Citizenship (ACC), to fight efforts at the state and federal level to undermine the Constitution’s guarantee of citizenship for all persons born in the U.S. This includes recently announced attempts by a group of state legislators to push state-level legislation to deny the privileges of U.S citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. |
Statement of PrinciplesRatified in 1868, in the wake of the Civil War, our nation’s bloodiest conflict, the Citizenship Clause was designed to ensure that all children born in the United States, with minor exceptions for children of foreign diplomats and invading forces, are citizens. It ensures that states could never again seek to create an underclass of Americans. ... Read the full statement of principles endorsed by ACC members ResourcesConstitutional Citizenship: A Legislative History - Immigration Policy Center Frequently Asked Questions: Defending Citizenship Under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - ACLU Debunking Harmful and Misguided Birthright Citizenship Proposals - Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) State Citizeship Model - Appleseed Defining 'American:' Birthright Citizenship and the Original Understanding of the 14th Amendment - James C. Ho |
