| 1 | 1 | | 25 LC 112 2829 |
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| 2 | 2 | | Senate Resolution 123 |
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| 3 | 3 | | By: Senators Islam Parkes of the 7th, Jones II of the 22nd, Esteves of the 35th, Mangham of |
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| 4 | 4 | | the 55th, McLaurin of the 14th and others |
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| 5 | 5 | | A RESOLUTION |
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| 6 | 6 | | Affirming birthright citizenship as a constitutional right; and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | 1 |
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| 8 | 8 | | WHEREAS, the strength of America is and always has been founded in our exceptional2 |
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| 9 | 9 | | diversity, which underpins our economy, energizes our culture, and ensures us a vibrant and3 |
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| 10 | 10 | | prosperous future; and4 |
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| 11 | 11 | | WHEREAS, since our nation's founding, people from every nation on earth, speaking every5 |
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| 12 | 12 | | language on earth, have come to America in search of opportunity, worked to build6 |
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| 13 | 13 | | prosperity and security for their families, and helped create our communities, our industries,7 |
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| 14 | 14 | | and our institutions; and8 |
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| 15 | 15 | | WHEREAS, the right to citizenship for the children of those immigrants has helped those9 |
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| 16 | 16 | | communities, industries, and institutions flourish generation after generation; and10 |
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| 17 | 17 | | WHEREAS, birthright citizenship ensures that our national identity is defined not by blood,11 |
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| 18 | 18 | | but by a shared commitment to building our nation together on a foundation of liberty,12 |
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| 19 | 19 | | equality, and self-governance; and13 |
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| 20 | 20 | | S. R. 123 |
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| 21 | 21 | | - 1 - 25 LC 112 2829 |
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| 22 | 22 | | WHEREAS, the 1844 New York state court case Lynch v. Clarke established a legal |
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| 23 | 23 | | 14 |
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| 24 | 24 | | precedent that persons born in the United States to visiting parents are United States citizens15 |
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| 25 | 25 | | by right of birth; and16 |
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| 26 | 26 | | WHEREAS, in 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment enshrined birthright citizenship in17 |
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| 27 | 27 | | Constitutional law by stating unambiguously that "all persons born or naturalized in the18 |
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| 28 | 28 | | United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of19 |
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| 29 | 29 | | the State wherein they reside" by right of birth; and20 |
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| 30 | 30 | | WHEREAS, in 1898 in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court reinforced that21 |
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| 31 | 31 | | children born in the United States to immigrant parents are United States citizens by right of22 |
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| 32 | 32 | | birth; and23 |
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| 33 | 33 | | WHEREAS, most living Americans trace their citizenship to an ancestor with foreign-born24 |
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| 34 | 34 | | parents who acquired citizenship by right of birth; and25 |
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| 35 | 35 | | WHEREAS, the Trump Administration's current assault on birthright citizenship is not just26 |
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| 36 | 36 | | unconstitutional but an offense against American values.27 |
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| 37 | 37 | | NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body28 |
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| 38 | 38 | | reaffirm birthright citizenship as a fundamental right in accordance with the ideals of this29 |
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| 39 | 39 | | nation, the United States Constitution, and more than a century of settled constitutional law.30 |
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| 40 | 40 | | BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed31 |
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| 41 | 41 | | to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the public and the32 |
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| 42 | 42 | | press.33 |
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| 43 | 43 | | S. R. 123 |
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| 44 | 44 | | - 2 - |
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