2019

Scharf Publishes Article on Naturalized Special Immigrant Juveniles

UMass Law Professor Irene Scharf published an article on the impacts of discrimination on Naturalized Specialized Immigrant Juveniles.

UMass Law Professor Irene Scharf published an article, Second Class Citizenship? The Plight of Naturalized Special Immigrant Juveniles, on the impact of discrimination on U.S. immigrant citizenship. The article examined what it means to be a citizen of the United States and what rights and privileges are lawfully inherent with citizenship. An excerpt from the article details the foundations of what makes U.S. citizenship:

“For those neither born in the United States, expressed in the Latin phrase jus soli, or ‘law of the soil,’ nor who acquired or derived U.S. citizenship through operation of law, the way to become a citizen, as specified in the Constitution, is through naturalization: ‘[a]ll 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.’ Nowhere does the Constitution say that naturalized citizens’ rights can be abridged vis-à-vis native born citizens; nowhere does the Constitution say that naturalized citizens possess fewer rights than those born in the United States. To be sure, any USC, regardless of how citizenship was attained, can suffer deprivations of certain citizenship rights, such as losing the right to vote or to serve on juries following conviction of certain crimes. All other restrictions, beyond those identified in the Constitution—requiring both the President and Vice President to be ‘natural-born citizens’—are baseless and violate the Constitution.”

Professor Scharf’s article emphasized that U.S. law has only one class of citizenship and there are no legal distinctions between native-born and naturalized citizens, but history has shown that special immigrant juveniles (SIJs) are the exception. The article also details widespread citizenship discrimination against racial minorities, felons, women, elderly persons, and intellectually disabled persons. Professor Scharf concluded that citizenship rights, including equal treatment, should be afforded to all.

To read the article please visit: http://cardozolawreview.com/second-class-citizenship-the-plight-of-naturalized-special-immigrant-juveniles/