1. Naturalization American Government

2. The Constitution and Citizenship An American citizen is one who owes allegiance to the U.S. and is entitled to both its protection and the privileges of its laws. The Constitution declares that a person may become a citizen in one of two ways: 1.Citizenship by birth 2.Citizenship by naturalization

3. Citizenship by birth More than 260 million Americans—nearly 90%--are citizens because they were born in this country. ◦This is called jus soli, or the law of the soil, which means that citizenship is decided by place of birth. ◦This was courtesy of the 14 th amendment, which was passed to make sure that freed slaves would become full citizens following their emancipation.

4. Citizenship by naturalization Naturalization is the legal process by which a person can become a citizen of another country some time after birth. The USCIS investigates each applicant, and then reports its findings to a judge, if the judge is satisfied the applicant gives an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution. Sometimes large groups of people are given citizenship at the same time, called collective naturalization.

5. Regulation of Immigration Congress has the exclusive power to regulate the crossing of this nation’s borders, both inward and outward. Since 1820, some 70 million immigrants have come here. For more than a century after independence Congress made little attempt to deal with immigration. The first major restriction came in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act. ◦It also barred criminals, lunatics, paupers, and people likely to become public charges. ◦This gave Congress a lot of power to bar major groups of people, by 1920 more than 30 groups were barred from entering the U.S.

6. The Quota System The Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 and the National Origins Act of 1929 assigned each country in Europe a quota. ◦Quotas put a limit on the number of immigrants that could enter the U.S. from a specific country. The quotas purposely favored immigrants from Western and Northern Europe. Immigration from Africa and Asia was generally prohibited. Congress finally got rid of the quota system in 1965 and allowed as many as 270,000 immigrants to enter each year regardless of country of origin.

7. Current Immigration Policy The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the amount of immigrants the U.S. may accept in a year to 675,000. ◦At least 1/3 of those persons admitted must be close relatives of American citizens or resident aliens. ◦People with occupational talents also receive preference. ◦People excluded include criminals, drug addicts, illiterates, and the mentally disturbed. The Dream Act would allow for many people to stay in the U.S. if they have proven that they are bettering their standing through education and employment, but it has still not been passed. ◦Earlier this year President Obama said that he would end the deportation of those that fit some of the requirements under the Dream Act.

8. Loss of Citizenship & Deportation Expatriation is the legal process by which a loss of citizenship occurs. ◦Can occur if you serve in another country’s army or vote in their election. ◦Usually occurs when someone became a citizen by fraud or deception. Deportation is the legal process by which someone is required to leave the country. ◦Most often occurs because of illegal entry. ◦Many people have often been deported on the basis of their criminal record.