Americans for Constitutional Citizenship Denounces Introduction of King Anti-Citizenship Bill
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Washington,
DC –Today,
Americans for Constitutional Citizenship, a diverse coalition of civil and
human rights organizations dedicated to preserving the integrity of our
nation’s Constitution and its guarantee of natural-born citizenship, issued the
following statement in response to the Rep. Steve King’s introduction of anti
American citizenship legislation:
“Representative
King’s bill is clearly unconstitutional and un-American. Our Constitution
states unequivocally that all people born in the U.S. and under its
jurisdiction are U.S. citizens entitled to equal protection under the law —
period, no exceptions.
Our country
went through the atrocities of slavery and the bloodiest war in its history to
settle this question with the adoption of the 14th Amendment.
Citizenship for all those born in the U.S. is the foundation of American
identity and the cornerstone of our civil rights laws. For those reasons, our
diverse coalition has come together to oppose – in the strongest possible terms
– any legislation at the state or federal level that would seek to undermine
the citizenship guarantee of the U.S. Constitution.
Instead of
debating the substantive issues at stake for our country, Rep. King has put
forth a divisive and futile piece of paper that has no place being considered
in the U.S. Congress. Even more disturbing is that on the same day that the
House of Representatives was honoring the dignity of our Constitution by
reading it on the floor, Rep. King was busy undermining it for political
grandstanding.
We will
continue to stand for American values and oppose these frivolous political
attacks on the core principles of our great democracy.”
Americans
for Constitutional Citizenship is a diverse coalition of civil and human rights
organizations dedicated to preserving the guarantee of American citizenship for
those born in the U.S. The coalition’s growing membership includes The
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, ACLU, NAACP, Center for
American Progress, Asian American Justice Center, Southern Poverty Law Center,
the Opportunity Agenda, National Council of La Raza, LULAC, National
Immigration Forum, NALEO, American Immigration Council, American Immigration
Lawyers Association, MALDEF, and more. More information on the coalition can be found here.