Proposals limiting U.S. citizenship to select individuals are a serious threat to Latinos' civil rights, according a coalition of 40 Latino organizations to all presidential candidates.

A letter by the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA), which comprises of 40 nonpartisan national Latino civil rights and advocacy organizations, the issue of birthright citizenship could restrict the Latino community from fully engaging in the U.S. legal and political system. In the 14th Amendment, birthright citizenship automatically grants U.S.-born children with U.S. citizenship, even if their parents are undocumented immigrants. The birthright amendment provision, however, has been under fire by Republican presidential candidates, including frontrunner Donald Trump.

According to the letter, a policy disrupting the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause would disrupt Latinos' ability to live their constitutional and civil rights, and as a result "create an underclass of stateless individuals, reminiscent of the pre-Civil War era."

"In recent weeks, several elected officials and electoral candidates have seemed to endorse proposals to end citizenship by birth. Efforts to restrict the right of citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment are a significant and serious threat to the civil rights of Latinos in the United States," the NHLA wrote.

The 40 Latino organizations agreed that changes to birthright citizenship will have a "substantial detrimental impact" on all Americans, but it would be especially harmful to the Latino community. If a change to birthright citizenship was implemented, the NHLA said widespread confusion could occur with people trying to prove citizenship, affecting local registrars and officials.

"More importantly, a policy to end citizenship by birth would likely create an underclass of Latinos and Latinas who would be subject to discrimination or other adverse treatment based on ethnicity, national origin, or race, but without the protections of citizenship. The dangerous result would be a population of stateless individuals and a dramatic increase in the 'undocumented' population by creating a caste of people unable to prove citizenship based on their birthplace," the NHLA added.

The coalition said attacks, such as calling for the end of birthright citizenship, undermines the American's fundamental priciples of equality and justice. The NHLA urged lawmakers and policy influencers to stop any attempt to amend birthright citizenship. The group stated the 14th Amendment provision has contributed to the U.S. political and economic prosperity.

In Trump's immigration reform plan, he called for the end of birthright citizenship, and claimed the 14th Amendment is "the biggest magnet for illegal immigration." Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has also supported changes to birthright citizenship.

Not all Republicans have followed with Trump's message. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have opposed Trump's call.

NHLA Immigration Committee Co-chairs Jose Calderón and Thomas Saenz signed the letter for the 40 Latino organizations, which includes Hispanic Federation, League of United Latin American Citizens, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Council of La Raza, and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

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