Yes. Amish people born in the United States are US citizens, with the same constitutional rights and legal duties as any other American. The Fourteenth Amendment settles that at birth, and no religious practice or lifestyle choice changes it. What can make the Amish look like an exception is a small set of specific accommodations, mostly rooted in religious freedom, combined with their own voluntary decision to opt out of activities like voting and military service. Neither of those things touches citizenship itself.
Citizenship Attaches at Birth
The Fourteenth Amendment states that anyone born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction is a citizen of the country and of the state where they live.1Cornell Law School. 14th Amendment That rule doesn’t care about religion, language, or how a family chooses to live. An Amish baby born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, or Holmes County, Ohio, is a citizen from the moment of birth, on identical footing with any other child born on US soil.
Citizenship acquired this way also can’t be taken away involuntarily. A person may renounce it, but the government cannot revoke it because someone declines to vote, refuses a photo ID, or lives without electricity. The Amish do none of the things that would forfeit citizenship, so the legal answer is simple even before the accommodations enter the picture.
What Taxes the Amish Actually Pay
One of the most persistent myths is that the Amish pay no taxes. They pay federal and state income taxes, property taxes (including the share that funds public schools their children don’t attend), and sales taxes. They file returns with the IRS and face the same penalties for noncompliance as anyone else. The only major tax carve-out involves Social Security and Medicare.
Funding public school districts through property taxes while running their own private schools is a good snapshot of the broader pattern. Amish families carry the same obligations as their neighbors, with narrow, specifically granted exceptions where religious liberty runs into a particular government program.
The Social Security and Medicare Exemption
Federal law allows members of a recognized religious sect to opt out of Social Security and Medicare taxes if several conditions are met. The sect must have existed continuously since December 31, 1950, its members must be conscientiously opposed to accepting benefits from any private or public insurance, and the group must have a record of caring for its own dependent members.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 1402 – Definitions The Amish qualify. Their communities have long provided for widows, elders, and members with disabilities through mutual aid rather than federal programs.
To claim the exemption, an individual files IRS Form 4029, “Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits.” The form requires the applicant to waive all rights to Social Security retirement, disability, and survivor benefits, along with Medicare coverage. It is a permanent trade, not a loophole. Once approved, the exemption stays in effect unless the person leaves the qualifying religious group.3Social Security Administration. Social Security Handbook 1129
The exemption covers self-employment tax under IRC Section 1402(g). A parallel provision at IRC Section 3127 extends it to employer-employee relationships where both the employer and the employee belong to a qualifying religious sect.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 US Code 3127 – Exemption for Employers and Their Employees Where Both Are Members of Religious Faiths Opposed to Participation in Social Security Act Programs In practice, an Amish-owned business staffed by Amish workers can operate entirely outside the Social Security system, as long as everyone has filed the right paperwork.
Education and Wisconsin v. Yoder
The 1972 Supreme Court decision in Wisconsin v. Yoder is the anchor case for Amish schooling. Three Amish fathers were convicted under Wisconsin’s compulsory attendance law for refusing to send their children to school past eighth grade. The Court reversed the convictions, holding that forcing Amish children into formal high school until age 16 violated the parents’ First Amendment right to direct the religious upbringing of their children.5Justia. Wisconsin v Yoder – 406 US 205 (1972) The Court found that Amish vocational learning, in farming, carpentry, and domestic skills, prepared children adequately for life within the community, and that the state’s interest in two more years of formal schooling wasn’t compelling enough to override that religious practice.
The ruling did not exempt Amish children from education. They still attend school through eighth grade, usually in small one-room schoolhouses run by the community. What Yoder established is that a religious community with a proven record of self-sufficiency can end formal schooling at a point consistent with its way of life.
Selective Service Registration Still Applies
The Amish are pacifists, and their faith forbids military service. Pacifism does not excuse them from registering with Selective Service. Federal law requires every male US citizen to register within 30 days of turning 18, and the Selective Service System is explicit that men who would be classified as conscientious objectors if drafted must still register.6Selective Service System. Who Needs to Register Failing to register is a felony carrying a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison, and it can disqualify someone from federal employment and certain state benefits.7Selective Service System. Benefits and Penalties
The accommodation only activates if a draft is called. Registered conscientious objectors can then file for exemption from combat service. Those approved perform 24 months of alternative civilian service, in hospitals, conservation programs, agricultural work, or social services.8Selective Service System. National Alternative Service Program During World War II, and again through the Korean and Vietnam era drafts, hundreds of Amish men served in non-military roles.
Voting, Jury Duty, and Photo ID
Most Amish don’t vote, hold public office, or take part in political campaigns. That’s a choice, not a legal restriction, and it comes from the belief that Christians should stay separate from worldly government. Nothing in US law prevents an Amish person from casting a ballot, and some Amish communities have turned out in higher numbers when they believed an election affected their way of life directly.
Jury duty is a harder spot. The Amish object to sitting in judgment of others, which they read as forbidden by scripture. There is no blanket federal religious exemption from jury service, but many states let judges excuse people with a sincere religious objection, and some states have enacted specific statutory exemptions for groups opposed to passing judgment. In practice most Amish who are summoned can be excused, but the process varies by jurisdiction.
Photo identification is another point of friction. Many Amish communities treat posing for photographs as a form of vanity forbidden by their faith. They travel by horse-drawn buggy, so a driver’s license is unnecessary and not required for non-motorized vehicles. Social Security numbers are handled differently. Since 2004, anyone submitting Form 4029 to claim the tax exemption must already have an SSN, and the Social Security Administration returns forms filed without one. The agency accommodates the religious objection by letting the applicant request that no physical card be issued, so the number exists in the records but the card is suppressed.9Social Security Administration. SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)
Voter ID rules interact with all of this. Several states require photo ID at the polls, and at least some of those states offer alternatives for voters with religious objections to being photographed, such as signing an affidavit and providing other identifying information. Any Amish voter should check the specific rules in their state before an election.