Citizenship Clause Law and Legal Definition
The citizenship clause of the U.S. Constitution confers the U.S. citizenship. This clause was adopted through the fourteenth amendment to the constitution. The provision is referred under USCS Const. Amend. 14, § 1. This provision is read as:
“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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”.
This clause was included as a result of the decision of Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (U.S. 1857) that declared that African Americans were not and could not become citizens of the U.S. or enjoy any of the privileges and immunities of citizenship.