The use of the words "free citizens and inhabitants" in the original draft undoubtedly indicates that It was contemplated that there would be free inhabitants who would not be citizens and that they should be counted in the basis for apportionment of Representatives. The necessary and only inference is that the substitution was regarded as a mere change in style and not in substance. The evidence that "persons" was taken to mlean the same as "citizens and inhabitants." shows that the word was used in its common sense and that the Constitutional Convention intended the word "persons" to include." aliens or noncitizens." The internal evidence of the provision is against restricting the word "persons" to mean citizens. The word "person " is used in opposition to "citizen" in the second paragraph of the same section: "No person shall be a Representative who shall not have * * been seven years a citizen of the United - States." And also in the third paragraph of section 3. of Article I: "]No person shall be a Senator who shall not have been � * * nine years a citizen of the United States." And in Article 2. section 1. paragraph 5: "No person except .natural born citizen or a citizen of the United States. at - the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the office of President." These provisions in which - aliens are expressly excluded show conclusively that the Constitutional Convention took into consideration the presence of and contemplated presence of aliens in the United States. I The argument that.aliens were not considered by the Constitutional Convention can be further met by the power given to Congress in the fourth paragraph of section 8 of I Article 1. of power "to estabiish an uniform rule of naturalization." Every Congress that acted upon the apportionment I provision of Article I of the Constitution and every apportionI ment that was made in reliance on that article included inhabi" tants who were not citizens. The protection of the fifth ametidment. using the word "persons." has always been held to 7 extend to aliens. Wong Wing v.
Keywords matched
naturalization noncitizens