Welcoming New U.S. Citizens: Naturalization Ceremony at Rogers High School

Spokane Public Schools: Welcoming New U.S. Citizens: Naturalization Ceremony at Rogers High School 

Rogers High School proudly hosted a naturalization ceremony on March 28, welcoming over 50 new U.S. citizens. Presided over by Judge James A. Goeke of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, this powerful event was filled with emotion, hope, and celebration.

Anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education

Today is the anniversary of the ruling in the Supreme Court case, Brown v. the Board of Education (1954). The decision, written by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, said that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." This decision made the racial segregation of schools against the law in every US state.

VOA Learning English: US Supreme Court Decision: Brown v. Board of Education

COABE: Legislative Center (advocacy for Adult Education)

Colorin Colorado: Landmark Court Rulings Regarding English Language Learners (page)

National Archives:   (page, original docs)

National Trust for Historic Preservation: "These Children Do Speak English:" Language and the Fight Against School Segregation (page)

NEA Today: Revisiting Brown v. Board of Education – 70 Years Later (page)

TESOL: Advocacy Center (all English Language Learners)

US Courts: History - Brown v. Board of Education Re-enactment (lesson plan, activity)

VOA Learning English: Brown v. Board of Education Helps Launch Civil Rights Movement (2018 article, video, audio, quiz)

VOA Learning English: 70 Years after Brown Decision, School Segregation Getting Worse (2024 article, audio, quiz)

POP QUIZ:

USCIS 100:12.  What is the “rule of law”?

USCIS 100:38.  What is the highest court in the United States? 

USCIS 100:39.  How many justices are on the Supreme Court?   

USCIS 100:40.  Who is the Chief Justice of the United States now?

USCIS 100:42.   Under our Constitution, some powers belong to the states.  What is one power of the states? 

Balance of Powers, Part 4

Center for Civic Education: How Congress Shares Power: Balance of Powers, Part 4

The Framers of the Constitution wanted to limit the power of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the national government. So, they made each of them share some of its primary responsibilities and accompanying powers with one or more of the other branches. Listen for more!

60-Second Civics, Episode 5367, May 13, 2025 (a rebroadcast of Episode 4672: July 21, 2022)

Subscribe and take the Daily Civics Quiz at http://civiced.org/60-second-civics

Learn more:

• si: Preparing for the Oath
• USCIS: The Executive Branch BL | IL
• USCIS: The Legislative Branch BL | IL
• USCIS: The Judicial Branch BL | IL
• uscitizenpod: The Supreme Court of the United States
• VOA Learning English: America's Presidents
• VOA Learning English: The U.S. Congress
• VOA Learning English: The U.S. Supreme Court

The little-known history of birthright citizenship

Washington Post: The little-known history of birthright citizenship

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Thursday about birthright citizenship. Today we explore the history of this constitutional right and meet the man who has become an unlikely spokesman for saving it.

Norman Wong and Birthright Citizenship

Norman Wong is an American. He is 75 years old and lives near San Francisco. His great-grandfather was Wong Kim Ark. Wong Kim Ark was born in the U.S. in the 1800s. His parents were from China. But the U.S. government did not want to let him come back after he visited China.

Wong Kim Ark went to court. The case went to the Supreme Court in 1898. The court said he was a U.S. citizen because he was born in the U.S. This helped create the law of “birthright citizenship.”

What is birthright citizenship?

If you are born in the U.S., you are a citizen — no matter where your parents are from.

Now, President Trump wants to change this rule. He signed an order to stop birthright citizenship for children born to people who are in the U.S. illegally or on short-term visas. Many people and states disagreed. They went to court.

The case is now going to the Supreme Court. Norman Wong is speaking out to protect his great-grandfather’s legacy and to support birthright citizenship for future generations.

Sources and further reading:

VOX: Why the US has birthright citizenship

Garrett Epps’s law review article about the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment has everything you’ll ever need to know about the history of birthright citizenship in the US article The Library of Congress has a great map showing which countries of the world offer unconditional birthright citizenship like the US map The 1861 map of the US we use a few times in the piece is itself a strikingly rich document that I could stare at forever 1861 map

Some other original documents we use in the piece: Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship EO 14106 The Ipsos poll containing the question about support for ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants: IPSOS Survey The Dred Scott decision article

President Andrew Johnson’s letter vetoing the 1866 Civil Rights Act article Congress’s debates over the 14th Amendment (we quoted from page 498) debate The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act article The Wong Kim Ark decision article Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com.

Also see:

Center for Civic Education: Birthright Citizenship part 5 of the Citizenship at the Founding playlist

Rep Ted Lieu: Birthright citizenship is as American as apple pie.

VOA Learning English: News Words: Executive Order | Birthright Citizenship

VOA News: What is birthright citizenship?

2024-2025 MAE Citizenship Class 29

NY Historical: Supreme Court // The Citizenship Project [E11]

This is the thirteenth class of our semester.  

• Future Citizenship: The Senate; House of Representatives; Judicial Branch (83-94; Unit 4:5 168-169
• Marriage and Children / Immigration Fraud plus Quiz 13: Civic Groups
• Claudia Rios Castro: A Quick Interview Based on the N-400r plus 10qs about the Branches of Gov’t Part 1 pdf

Learn more:

• USCIS: The Legislative Branch BL | IL
• USCIS: The Judicial Branch BL | IL
• uscitizenpod: The Supreme Court of the United States
• VOA Learning English: The U.S. Congress
• VOA Learning English: The U.S. Supreme Court

Balance of Powers, Part 3

Center for Civic Education: How to Prevent Tyranny: Balance of Powers, Part 3

The Framers of the Constitution were concerned about two things: first, the emergence of a tyrannical executive in the presidency and second, a tyranny of a majority in Congress. Learn how they designed a system of government to address these concerns in this episode! 

60-Second Civics, Episode 5366, May 12, 2025 (a rebroadcast of Episode 4671: July 20, 2022)

Subscribe and take the Daily Civics Quiz at http://civiced.org/60-second-civics

Learn more:

• si: Preparing for the Oath
• USCIS: The Executive Branch BL | IL
• USCIS: The Legislative Branch BL | IL
• USCIS: The Judicial Branch BL | IL
• uscitizenpod: The Supreme Court of the United States
• VOA Learning English: America's Presidents
• VOA Learning English: The U.S. Congress
• VOA Learning English: The U.S. Supreme Court

Balance of Powers, Part 2

Center for Civic Education: Congress as the Predominant Branch: Balance of Powers, Part 2

Which branch of the federal government has the most power? We explore the intentions of the Framers for how power was to be distributed among the branches in today’s episode!  

60-Second Civics, Episode 5365, May 9, 2025 (Episode 4670: July 19, 2022)

Subscribe and take the Daily Civics Quiz at http://civiced.org/60-second-civics

Learn more:

• si: Preparing for the Oath
• USCIS: The Executive Branch BL | IL
• USCIS: The Legislative Branch BL | IL
• USCIS: The Judicial Branch BL | IL
• uscitizenpod: The Supreme Court of the United States
• VOA Learning English: America's Presidents
• VOA Learning English: The U.S. Congress
• VOA Learning English: The U.S. Supreme Court

Happy Mother's Day!

uscitizenpod: Three Citizenship Questions for Mother's Day (video)

Ann Reeves Jarvis was a peace activist who took care of wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. After the war, she hosted Mother's Day Friendship picnics for the women on both sides of the war.  She also created Mother's Day Work Clubs to address public health issues.

After Ann Reeves Jarvis died, her daughter, Anna Jarvis, wanted to honor her mother by continuing the work that her mother had started.  Anna Jarvis started a petition to set aside one day every year to honor all mothers.  She said that a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world."

In 1908, Anna Jarvis sent a petition to Congress to make Mother's Day a national holiday. Although Congress rejected the petition, many states and cities adopted the idea.  In 1914, Woodrow Wilson  signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.

Name one problem that led to the Civil War.

• civil rights
• first amendment rights
• states’ rights
• women's rights

What are two ways that Americans can participate in their democracy?

• join a camping group
• join a civic group
• join a comedy group
• join a community group

Name two national U.S. holidays.

• Memorial Day
• Mother's Day
• Valentine's Day
• Veterans Day

Source: Wikipedia
Image Source: USPS Mother of America Stamp