Skylar
Diamond Member
- Jul 5, 2014
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4. Resolved, That alien friends are under the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of the State wherein they are: that no power over them has been delegated to the United States, nor prohibited to the individual States, distinct from their power over citizens. And it being true as a general principle, and one of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared, that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people," the act of the Congress of the United States, passed on the - day of July, 1798, intituled "An Act concerning aliens," which assumes powers over alien friends, not delegated by the Constitution, is not law, but is altogether void, and of no force.
Thomas Jefferson
The Kentucky Resolution was condemned by 10 other State Legislatures at the time and opposed by everyone from Hamilton to Washington. Even if you follow the 'compact theory' of the constittuion, 2 of 13 does not a compact make.
As for where in the constitution the federal government is granted authority over issues of immigration, that would be Article 1, Section 8:
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;