Constitutional Accountability Center Constitutional Accountability Center

Immigration and Citizenship

Using the Constitution’s text and history to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens and immigrants
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Eastern European Jewish war orphans arrive in the United States | American Jewish Joint Distribution Center

Summary

The Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause is one of the most important provisions of the Constitution, guaranteeing birthright citizenship. CAC uses this and other constitutional provisions, along with federal statutes, to ensure that the rights of all are secured.

Immigration and Citizenship in Brief

Naturalization ceremony in Atlanta, GA | David Lienemann, White House Archives

CAC fights in the courts and in the public square against continuing attacks on immigrants and their rights, the power of the federal government to regulate immigration, and the Constitution’s protection of birthright citizenship.

Featured Case

Immigration and Citizenship January 10, 2025

Riley v. Bondi

Pierre Riley, who has lived in the United States for decades and has seven children here, fears he will be tortured if he is forced to return to his country of origin, Jamaica. Because Riley was previously convicted of an aggravated felony, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a removal order against him in January 2021. Riley then filed a Convention Against Torture (CAT) claim to defer his removal. An Immigration Judge granted his CAT claim, but even though the BIA concluded that Riley’s fear of torture was credible, it ordered him removed in 2022 because, in its view,...

Case Timeline

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  • CAC files amicus brief in the Supreme Court

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