Senate Resolution 123
By: Senators Islam Parkes of the 7th, Jones II of the 22nd, Esteves of the 35th, Mangham of
the 55th, McLaurin of the 14th and others
A RESOLUTION
Affirming birthright citizenship as a constitutional right; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, the strength of America is and always has been founded in our exceptional
diversity, which underpins our economy, energizes our culture, and ensures us a vibrant and
prosperous future; and
WHEREAS, since our nation's founding, people from every nation on earth, speaking every
language on earth, have come to America in search of opportunity, worked to build
prosperity and security for their families, and helped create our communities, our industries,
and our institutions; and
WHEREAS, the right to citizenship for the children of those immigrants has helped those
communities, industries, and institutions flourish generation after generation; and
WHEREAS, birthright citizenship ensures that our national identity is defined not by blood,
but by a shared commitment to building our nation together on a foundation of liberty,
equality, and self-governance; and
WHEREAS, the 1844 New York state court case Lynch v. Clarke established a legal
precedent that persons born in the United States to visiting parents are United States citizens
by right of birth; and
WHEREAS, in 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment enshrined birthright citizenship in
Constitutional law by stating unambiguously that "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" by right of birth; and
WHEREAS, in 1898 in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court reinforced that
children born in the United States to immigrant parents are United States citizens by right of
birth; and
WHEREAS, most living Americans trace their citizenship to an ancestor with foreign-born
parents who acquired citizenship by right of birth; and
WHEREAS, the Trump Administration's current assault on birthright citizenship is not just
unconstitutional but an offense against American values.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body
reaffirm birthright citizenship as a fundamental right in accordance with the ideals of this
nation, the United States Constitution, and more than a century of settled constitutional law.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the public and the
press.