"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." - Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence
Those are some of the wisest words from American history. Sadly, they are almost entirely ignored today, other than occasional lip service to keep up the charade.
As stated, all humans are born equal; with identical rights. This doesn't mean people are equal in ability or that outcomes are guaranteed. "Unalienable" means no one has the power to separate anyone from their rights in any way for any reason. No one has the right to deny anyone their right to life, liberty, their pursuit of happiness, or any of the other rights which it admits those three are merely "among". A government office doesn't grant this power, nor does "national security" or any other excuse.
Government is not the "Creator" of the people, nor of their rights. Equality and rights do not come from government, nor are they only possessed by people under particular governments in certain lands. The Declaration doesn't claim any rights depend on citizenship, or even residency, but exist in all humans, for all times, wherever they may be.
I wish more people understood this.
In fact, I wish more people would read and understand the Declaration of Independence, noticing how it applies to today's situation. The US government has become far more tyrannical than was the government of King George III. Eighteenth Century Americans were bothered enough by the king's violations to divorce Great Britain; backing their decision with deadly force when their right of self-determination was opposed.
Less than one hundred years later, these lessons had already been forgotten. They had become an inconvenience to the ambitions of a home-grown tyrant.
The Declaration doesn't say the union which became the United States of America was to be a suicide pact; no one able to leave after joining. In fact, it states the exact opposite quite clearly. All political bands are dissolvable, as a human right, when the rights of the people are violated by a government which refuses to back down. Notwithstanding the outcome of Abraham Lincoln's war. Lincoln was on the wrong side of that bloody debate.
If you respect the Declaration of Independence, you can pretend its principles don't still apply to each and every person alive, but only at the expense of your honesty.
