1. Federal Civil Rights Laws

2. Reconstruction to Today
1870 – Congress failed to pass any meaningful civil rights legislation!
Think about it… the 13th Amendment created freedom and legal citizenship of thousands of African males instantly and congress did nothing to help the states adjust to such a major change!

3. Change finally arrives.
1957 – Pressure from Dr. King forces the congress to pass a series of civil rights legislation.
Civil Rights Act of 1957, 1960, 1964, 1970, 1975, and When it rains it pours!

4. Civil Rights act of 1964 The farthest reaching of all the acts.
No person can be denied service in “public accommodations” because of race, color, religion, national origin, or physical disability. (Title II)

5. Prohibits discrimination against any person on the grounds of , race, color, religion, national origin, sex or physical disability. (Title VI)
Forbid employers and labor unions to discriminate against any person on the grounds of , race, color, religion, national origin, sex or physical disability. (Title VII)

6. Civil Rights Act of 1968
Forbids anyone to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to any person on the grounds of race, color, religion, origin, sex or disability. It also forbids refusal to sell or rent to a family with children
Congress strengthened the law in 1988, allowing the Justice Dept. to file charges against violators.

7. Affirmative Action
The policy requiring that most employers take positive steps (affirmative action) to remedy the effects of past discriminations.
This applies to Federal, State and local governments and to all private employers who do business with the Federal Government.

8. The enforcement of this plan started in 1965.
One of the basic ideas is that the work place should resemble the basic population in its locale and that there are programs to help correct inequalities.
This introduced the use of quotas.

9. Is Affirmative Action reverse discrimination?
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke 1978
United Steel Workers v. Weber, 1979
Cases involving the University of Michigan

10. Affirmative Action on the Ballot
California – 1996 voted to eliminate all affirmative action programs in Proposition 209.
A federal district court ruled that 209 was unconstitutional. Violating the 14th Amendment, Equal Protection Clause and the Supremacy Clause.

11. Court of Appeals overturned the District Court and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
1998 Washington’s voters passed a similar measure as California’s.

12. Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action Supreme Court upheld a Michigan constitutional amendment that bans affirmative action in admissions to the state’s public universities.

13. American Citizenship
“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.”

14. Citizen by Birth
Jus Soli – (soil) A child becomes an American citizen if born in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, any United States embassy, or aboard a United States public vessel anywhere in the world.

15. Jus Sanguinis – (blood) A child born to an American citizen on foreign soil becomes a citizen if:
Both parents are American citizens, and at least one has lived in the United States or an American territory at some time.

16. One parent is an American citizen who has lived in the United States for at least 10 years, 5 of them after age 14, and the child has lived in the United States continually for at least 5 years between the ages of 14 and 28.

17. Citizenship by Naturalization
Individual
See chart on page 614.
Over 800,000 aliens become naturalized each year! US Citizenship Oath Taking Ceremony - YouTube
Collective
Happens when a new territory is annexed.

18. Loss of Citizenship
Expatriation – the legal process by which a loss of citizenship occurs…you can denounce your citizenship.
Denaturalization – the loss of naturalized citizenship, by court order only. Usually because the person became a citizen through fraud or deception.

19. Present Policies Only 675,000 are allowed to legally enter.
Preference is placed on those who already have family living in the U.S.
Those who have occupational talents that are short supply.
Must qualify for citizenship. See p.614

20. Deportation
The legal process in which aliens are legally required to leave the United States.
Deportation is an inherent power, arising out of the sovereignty of the United States.
Deportation is not criminal punishment, and so does not require a criminal trial.

21. Current Problems
Most illegal alien’s become invisible, that is they blend in, usually in large cities.
They are difficult to find
Yet, over 1 million illegal aliens have been apprehended each year.
Estimates show that there are approximately 8 to 10 million illegal aliens living in the U.S today.

22. Current Law The Immigration and Reform Act of 1986
Allowed for a one year period to let undocumented aliens register to become citizens…over 2 million did so.
Made it illegal to hire an illegal immigrant, fines from $250 - $10,000 could be imposed.
1996 Congress made it easier to deport illegal aliens.