By: A Constitutionally Exhausted Citizen Who Actually Reads It

Let us begin with a blast from the past. You remember Schoolhouse Rock, right?
You know the tune. “I’m just a bill, yes I’m only a bill, and I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill…”
Admit it, it is still stuck in your head. You can picture that little animated scroll with eyes and a mouth, teaching you the basics of American government while sitting patiently on the Capitol steps.

Now, imagine if that same cartoon scroll suddenly grew arms, slapped you across the face with a pocket Constitution, and said, “Hey genius, ‘We the People’ does not mean what you think it means!”

Because apparently, we need a remix for 2025.

Let us get right to it. People are running around social media, cable news, and local barstools hollering that the Constitution only protects citizens. Why? Because they misread or misheard the Preamble and decided to base their entire understanding of American law on a sentence that does not even contain the word “citizen.”

Not once. Not ever.

Let’s Read the Preamble. Slowly. Out Loud. Like Adults.

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution…”

Do you see it? No? Because it is not there.

There is no asterisk. No clause. No footnote saying, “By the way, this only applies to people with a Social Security number and a deep love for Toby Keith.”

“We the People.”

Not “We the White People.”
Not “We the Natural-Born.”
Not “We the NRA Members.”

Just People.

And that matters. Oh, it matters so much. Because the Constitution is not a velvet rope club with a bouncer checking citizenship cards at the door. It is a binding document that sets limits on what the government can and cannot do — to people. Not just citizens. Not just voters. People.

Enter the Bill of Rights: The Real MVPs of Due Process

Let us get into the real meat of this political tamale.

Because even if the Preamble was ambiguous (it is not), the Bill of Rights is not.

Go ahead, flip through it. Every time the rights are discussed, they use phrases like:

• “No person shall be… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” — Fifth Amendment
• “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right…” — Sixth Amendment
• “The right of the people to be secure… against unreasonable searches and seizures…” — Fourth Amendment
• “No person… shall be held to answer for a capital… crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…” — again, Fifth

Notice the language? Person. Accused. People.

Not “citizen.”

That is not a happy accident. It is the entire point. The Founders — yes, those powdered-wig-wearing, contradiction-laden guys — wanted the government to be limited in what it could do to people under its jurisdiction, no matter where they came from. You could be born in Boston or Botswana — if you are standing on American soil, the Constitution offers protection from state overreach.

If that makes you uncomfortable, maybe ask yourself why.

Because for a group of people who yell “small government” like it is their Wi-Fi password, a lot of folks suddenly seem very comfortable with the idea of government having unchecked power over certain humans — as long as they are not you.

What About the Courts?

Glad you asked. Because the Supreme Court has slapped this particular misinformation campaign down so many times it should have its own gavel-themed rap album.

Let us start with Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886).
This landmark case made it crystal clear: “The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is not confined to the protection of citizens. It says ‘any person’ within the jurisdiction.”

Now, fast forward a century to Plyler v. Doe (1982).

The state of Texas tried to deny undocumented kids access to public education.
The Supreme Court said: Nah.

“Whatever his status under the immigration laws, an alien is a ‘person’ in any ordinary sense of that term… The undocumented status of these children does not establish a sufficient rational basis for denying them education.”

Translation? Rights apply. Even to undocumented children.

Because again, and for the people in the cheap seats: the Constitution protects persons, not just passport holders.

Why Does This Matter? Because History.

If your first instinct is to ask, “Well, why should we give rights to people who are not citizens?”
Let me stop you right there with the booming voice of every civil rights leader who has ever lived.

Because the moment you allow the government to pick and choose who counts as human, you no longer live in a democracy — you live in a regime.

Do you think Japanese-Americans during WWII got a fair deal when the government decided they were suddenly “less American”? (Korematsu v. United States should haunt every civics textbook.) Or when the Dred Scott decision infamously stated that enslaved Black people were “not intended to be included under the word ‘citizens’”?
Yeah, that was the argument then, too.

You cannot cherry-pick humanity.
You cannot ration out rights like Halloween candy — one for you, none for you.
That is not constitutional originalism. That is fascism wearing an American flag as a toga.

Why the Lie Persists: The Propaganda Machine Rolls On

The idea that “only citizens get rights” is political propaganda at its slickest.
It is not based in law. It is not grounded in precedent.
It is a scare tactic — and a lazy one.

Because if the government can ignore the Constitution for immigrants today, it can ignore it for dissidents tomorrow. For protestors the day after. For you next week.
If your rights only exist because the government feels like granting them — they are not rights. They are privileges.

And guess what? Privileges can be revoked. Rights cannot.
Unless you fall for this nonsense.

The Founders Were Flawed — But They Got This Right

Yes, they were hypocrites. Yes, they allowed slavery, sexism, classism, and all the other -isms to fester.
But even in their elite, limited vision, they managed to enshrine language that has grown more powerful over time.

“All men are created equal” started as a lie.

But it became a truth worth fighting for — precisely because we insisted the Constitution apply to more people, not fewer.

Frederick Douglass knew it. Susan B. Anthony knew it. MLK Jr. screamed it from a Birmingham jail.

And it is up to us to continue the tradition of dragging this country toward its promise. Kicking. Screaming. But forward.

Final Schoolhouse Rock Remix:

Sing it with me now.
(To the tune of “I’m Just a Bill”)

🎶
I’m just a clause,
Yes, a tiny clause,
But I’ve got big things to say—
From persons, not just citizens,
I keep abuse at bay.
So next time someone claims your rights,
Don’t let ‘em walk away—
Remind them what the Founders wrote,
And send that crap away.
🎶

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Your RESPONSIBILITY — Read the Damn Document

Next time someone tells you immigrants or non-citizens are not protected by the Constitution, ask them which clause, which case, which amendment supports that.

Spoiler: they will not have one.

So here is your homework:
Pull up Yick Wo. Read Plyler. Memorize the 14th Amendment.
Tattoo “person” on your brain.

Because truth is not a matter of opinion.

And the Constitution?

It is not your personal security blanket.

It is a social contract — and it applies to every person standing on this soil, whether you like them or not.