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In reply to the discussion: UPDATED - Trump expected to end his fight to add citizenship question to census, sources say [View all]brooklynite
(94,363 posts)Hence, a non citizen who commits a crime retains the right of trial by jury, laws of evidence, etc. However, there was no enumerated right to enter the Country or stay here initially (if I were to guess, there were common law rights in the early days). Citizenship was codified by the 14th Amendement ("All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside." . Through the Civil War, there were essentially no regulation on who could come or Stay. The Supreme Court recognized regulation of immigration as a Federal matter in 1875 and the first Immigration laws were passed in the 1880s. As for Illegal Aliens, they are neither born here nor naturalized, so have no right of residence, beyond that allowed by Statute.