BELLWORK What is an alien? (Page 391)

TAKE NOTES OF ANYTHING IN: BLACK

The Basis of Citizenship Chapter 14, Section 2 Essential Question: What is immigration?

Who Determines Citizenship? The Constitution only makes mention to citizenship in regards to the qualifications for holding a national office position. The Founders gave the power to the states to decide who was or was not a citizen and that state citizens would automatically be considered national citizens. There are two exceptions to this rule: African Americans Immigrants who became U.S. citizens through naturalization. Naturalization: the legal process by which someone who was not born in the United States is granted citizenship.

Who Determines Citizenship? (Continued) The Dred Scott v. Sandford case of 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that Scott could not sue in federal court because African Americans were not U.S. citizens at the time of the Constitution's adoption. This set the precedent that only descendants of people who were state citizens at that time, or immigrants who became citizens through naturalization, were U.S. citizens. The Dred Scott case is often cited as one of the many causes of the Civil War, a war which resulted in the Fourteenth Amendment. The 14th Amendment states “All persons born or naturalized in the United States… are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside…” It established that people of all races, excluding Native Americans, were citizens and the state citizenship was an automatic result of national citizenship.

Gaining Citizenship The three bases for U.S. citizenship. Jus soli: birth on American soil, Latin for“law of the soil.” Anyone born in the United States or in American territories is an American, the exception is for foreign diplomats; a baby is not a citizen because his or her parents are not subject to U.S. laws. Jus sanguinis: a child born abroad to U.S. citizens, the child is a citizen so long as one parent lived in and was a legal American resident at some point, Latin for “law of blood.” If only one parent is an American citizen, then that parent must have lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years, 2 of which had to occur after the age of 14, for jus sanguinis to apply. Naturalization, the process by which an immigrant becomes a citizen.

How to Gain Citizenship To apply for citizenship a person must: Be at least 18 years old. Have lived in the U.S. as a legal resident alien for 5 years. Been physically present in the U.S. for at least 2.5 years. Lived in the state where the petition for citizenship is filed for at least 3 months. During the process, witnesses must testify to the applicant's moral character, applicants may be asked to show their grasp of English or to answer basic questions about American government, and last declare allegiance to the U.S. and its laws.

Would you pass the citizenship test? Plicker Activity

Did you pass? Candidates for U.S. citizenship must pass both an English and civics test. The English exam tests reading, speaking and writing skills. For the civics test, there are 100 questions that an interviewer uses. It is an oral exam, and each applicant must correctly answer six out of ten questions. Test questions are taken from three categories, American government, American history and integrated civics.

Another way to gain citizenship, and the ways to lose it. There have been five times in American history that Congress has used collective naturalization. Collective naturalization: is a process under which an entire group of people become citizens by a treaty or by an act of Congress. For example, in 1924 Congress made all Native Americans U.S. citizens. Ways to lose citizenship: Expatriation: a person gives up their citizenship by the act of leaving the U.S. and becoming a citizen of another country. Being convicted of certain serious federal crimes (rebellion) Denaturalization: when it is proven that fraud, deception, or error occurred during the naturalization process.

Update on Obama’s Administration Reform Recently an appeal was filed that may overturn a Federal District Judges order to halt Obama’s executive action on immigration reform. There are 26 states involved in the case that believe the president’s actions are unconstitutional. If the appeal is successful Obama’s actions may be implemented, and could result in as many as 5 million undocumented immigrants to receive work authorization and remain in the country, as well as offer relief to parents of U.S. citizens, and make the application process available to undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. This story is ongoing. Group Quick Write: Now that you know the basics of becoming a U.S. citizen, what do you think of the process? Why? Do you think it is too confusing? Why? What could or should be changed about it? (3-4 Sentences)