1- Being an American 2- Becoming a Citizen Ch. 3 Section 1 & 2 1- Being an American 2- Becoming a Citizen

About 13 percent of all Americans were born in another country The United States population is made up largely of the descendants of people who came from other countries to settle here About 13 percent of all Americans were born in another country These people are called immigrants – people who move permanently to a new country Not everyone who came to the Americas came willingly Why do you think this is so? Some immigrants came searching for freedoms and others came fleeing poverty and disease The American population is very diverse and you can find many different ethnic groups Ethnic groups share a common national, cultural, or racial background Our shared values are shown in the important institutions of American life Social institutions are the key practices, relationships, and organizations in a society We can see institutions in the ways families are valued and people belong to churches Government Institutions reflect how strongly Americans value freedom and the American government is based on popular sovereignty This is the idea that the government receives it’s power from the people In what ways do you think popular sovereignty shown in American society?

People’s values are important because they influence how people act Values are broad ideas about what is good or bad Shared values help unite people , but different values make each person unique What is Civics? What does it mean to be a citizen? Think about your responsibilities or duties at home. Think about your privileges or rights at home. Civics is the study of the duties and rights of citizens Citizens have both duties and rights Citizens are members of the community who owe loyalty to a government and, in turn, are entitled to the protection of that government To have an effective government, citizens must understand their rights and responsibilities so they can make wise decisions Over the years, ideas about citizenship has changed and adapted as laws have changed Citizenship is no longer based on wealth, gender, race, or religion as it had been in earlier years A person is a citizen by birth or by going through a process A natural born citizen is any person born in American If a person is born on foreign soil by parents who are American citizens, they too, are an American citizen Naturalization is the legal process to become a citizen

American can lose their citizenship in 3 ways: Immigrants who want to become United States citizens must meet certain requirements: 18 years of age or older Permanent resident for 5 years Must be able to read, write, and speak English Must be of good moral character Must show understanding of U.S. civics First, immigrants who meet these requirements must complete an application and then take the citizenship exam. Finally, they have a special ceremony where they take an oath and pledge to be loyal to the U.S. above all other countries American can lose their citizenship in 3 ways: Expatriation: become a citizen of another country Denaturalization: A person who has been found to have lied on their citizenship application Being convicted of certain crimes: treason, rebellion, or trying to overthrow the government Only the federal government can grant or take away citizenship States can deny some privileges of citizenship Like the right to vote for criminals People who are foreign born residents that live in America and are not citizens of America are called aliens America has legal and non-legal aliens

There are two categories of legal aliens A resident alien is a legal immigrant who permanently lives in the United States and may stay in the country as ling as they want A nonresident alien is someone who expects to stay in the United States for a short, specified amount of time Refugees are sometimes accepted by the United States Refugee is a person fleeing their country to escape danger such as persecution by the government, war, or natural disaster Illegal Aliens are people who live in America illegally Today, close to 12 million people are living in the U.S. illegally Why do you think immigrants would come to America illegally? The U.S. limits the number of immigrants who can enter the country each year to about 1 million people Relatives of U.S. citizens get the highest priority People that have desired job skills are move to the top of the list The U.S. also tends to accept more people from countries who have had fewer immigrants in the past Because more people want to live in the U.S. than the law allows, many come in illegally Those who were refused permission but come anyway Those who never applied and but cross borders from Canada or Mexico Nonresident aliens who stay longer than their legal time limit Illegal aliens are arrested and deported if they are discovered