<p>Forgive me if this is not the correct sub-forum to ask, but I had a quick question about the bill of rights and the constitution as a whole.</p>
<p>To whom does the phrase "We the people" apply to? Does it mean "everyone in the United States"? Does it mean "only citizens in the United States"?</p>
<p>I've searched quite a few places and they have not been able to give me a simple and direct answer. The question is simple: Do the rights stated in the bill of rights and in the constitution as a whole (all 27 amendments) apply to EVERYONE in the United States or only citizens? </p>
<p>A person who is physically present within the US is entitled to the rights specified in the Bill of Rights, irrespective whether the person has citizenship. </p>
<p>@pandad: Are they entitled to every amendment in the constitution? I would believe so since it’s stated in the constitution “With Liberty and Justice for all.”</p>
<p>@Granata: No it doesn’t, that’s the pledge of allegiance. </p>
<p>@padad: That’s not entirely true. Citizens and noncitizens have been held to have different protections from substantive due process, for example. States can bar non-citizens from certain jobs, like public school teacher. Some of the constitutional rights are also expressly limited to citizens, like the rights to vote or hold public office. Citizens and non-citizens have essentially all the same rights inside the US, but they’re not coextensive. Also, obviously, it’s worth pointing out that citizens and non-citizens have different rights when it comes to immigration.</p>
<p>@Demo, I am talking about the Bill of Rights, neither specific laws nor the subsequent amendments. The Bill of rights certainly did not guarantee voting right for every citizens since we needed the 14th and the 19th to enable non-whites and woman, respectively, to be able to vote. </p>
<p>@Demos: Makes sense. I forgot to point out that I was aware that some amendments don’t apply to non-citizens, such as the right to vote, but do they have the rights of the first amendment, the second amendment, the third, the fourth, and the 9th amendment, etc?</p>
<p>Basically, what I’m trying to say is this: The bill of rights and the constitution as a whole applies to “the people” as that phrase is used the most, except when specifically addressing “citizens.” Am I correct?</p>
<p>@Demosthenes49: “Citizens and noncitizens have been held to have different protections from substantive due process, for example. States can bar non-citizens from certain jobs, like public school teacher.” But those are not constitutionally protected rights. “Some of the constitutional rights are also expressly limited to citizens, like the rights to vote or hold public office.” There is no constitutional text giving a “right to vote” to anyone. Rather, the constitution prohibits denying the vote based on certain criteria (age above 18, gender, etc.). Requirements for particular offices are arguably eligibility conditions and not general “rights”.</p>
<p>@Granata: “I forgot to point out that I was aware that some amendments don’t apply to non-citizens, such as the right to vote” There is no amendment giving a “right to vote”. Can you point out any amendment that “doesn’t apply to non-citizens”?</p>
<p>@spoon!: Substantive due process for the federal government comes from the 5th amendment. If that’s not a constitutional right I don’t know what is. Discrimination in hiring on the basis of status (like alienage) is handled under the 14th amendment equal protection clause. Also definitely a constitutional right. Your point about voting is nonsensical. The 1st amendment doesn’t give the “right to speech” either, it just says Congress can’t make a law interfering with it. The literal text is not dispositive of the scope of the right. </p>
<p>@sybbie719 Do you really think that I’m going to be using evidence and responses from a forum to write a college paper? It’s a simple question that I was curious to and seeked an answer.</p>
<p>Non-citizens, be they tourists, permanent residents or illegal immigrants! are equally protected by due process of law. It is true that there are certain immigration rules that bar tourists from working, but the right to work is not a constitutional right. The right to vote was never a topic in the original constitution. </p>
<p>@padad: The right to work is not a constitutional right. The right to be free from discrimination by the government, however, is. That includes government hiring, like public school teaching. However, citizens and non-citizens have different rights in that context. See, Ambach v. Norwick, 441 U.S. 68 (1979). Citizens and non-citizens are also protected differently by substantive due process. See Demore v. Kim, 538 U.S. 510 (2003). There the Court expressly said that Congress could make laws for non-citizens that would never be permissible for citizens. Admittedly, these are relatively small issues around the edges of constitutional rights. For the most part, citizens and non-citizens in the US have the same constitutional rights. But there are differences.</p>
<p>Huh? I must’ve missed that in my civics class. Not sure the Constitution discusses public school teachers. :)</p>
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<p>By definition, those are laws, not Constitutional rights. And teacher protections fall under the former, do they not? For example, absent unions, teachers could easily be ‘at-will’ employees – and often are in publicaly-approved Charter schools.</p>
<p>@bluebayou: The constitution does not discuss public school teachers, but it does have the Equal Protection Clause. How that clause is applied makes up your Constitutional rights. If the government can create and apply discriminatory practices on the basis of citizenship, that means groups with citizenship are better protected by the Equal Protection Clause than groups without it. </p>
<p>To put it another way, Congress has to make laws within the bounds of the Constitution. If the Constitution allows them to make laws that say X for non-citizens and Y for citizens, then by corollary citizens and non-citizens have different levels of Constitutional protection. </p>
<p>Demo, you do not need to be a US citizen to teach in public school, a permanent resident of US is sufficient. The law has more to do with how tax dollars are used than anything else. Neither citizenship or residency is required to teach at public universities. All that is required is a valid visa to work here. </p>