ACS Debate : Birthright Citizenship with Peter Schuck and Akhil Amar

September 22, 2010

On August 14, 2010, Peter Schuck, Yale Law School’s Simeon E. Baldwin Professor Emeritus of Law, opined in The New York Times that, even without a constitutional amendment, Congress can regulate citizenship of the children of undocumented immigrants.

That same week, Sterling Professor of Law Akhil Amar ’84 went on The Colbert Report to argue that the promise of equality under the 14th Amendment means that birthright citizenship allows no exception.

In the following debate, hosted by the American Constitution Society of Yale Law School and held on September 22, 2010, Professors Amar and Schuck discuss the history, the purpose, and ultimately the application of the 14th Amendment and birthright citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants.