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| Long title | An Act to amend the Naturalization Laws and to punish Crimes against the same, and for other Purposes. |
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| Enacted by | the41st United States Congress |
| Effective | July 14, 1870 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | Pub. L. 41–254 |
| Statutes at Large | 16 Stat. 254-256 |
| Legislative history | |
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TheNaturalization Act of 1870 (16 Stat. 254) was aUnited States federal law that created a system of controls for thenaturalization process and penalties for fraudulent practices. It is also noted for extending the naturalization process to "aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent" while also maintaining exclusion of the process to Chinese Americans and other Asian groups.[3]
By virtue of theFourteenth Amendment and despite the 1870 Act, theUS Supreme Court inUnited States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) recognizedUS birthright citizenship of an American-born child of Chinese parents who had a permanent domicile and residence in the United States, and who were there carrying on business, and were not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under theEmperor of China.[4] US citizenship of persons born in the United States sinceWong Kim Ark have been recognized, although the Supreme Court has never directly made a ruling in relation to children born to parents who are not legal residents in the United States.
The naturalization bill was introduced byRepublicanRepresentativeNoah Davis fromNew York in the US House of Representatives as bill H.R. 2201 and RepublicanSenatorRoscoe Conkling from New York co-sponsored the bill in the US Senate.
The 1870 Act was passed by the41st US Congress and signed into law byPresidentUlysses S. Grant on July 14, 1870. Although the act was enacted in theUS Congress during theReconstruction era, it is often not noted among the group of major legislative bills passed and enacted during that time period.[5]
18thPresident of the United States (1869–1877) | |||||||||
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