The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), is an amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955 . It refers to the 1955 Act as the ‘principal Act’ and adds a proviso to redefine an ‘illegal migrant’. It states that persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan or Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, will not be treated as illegal migrants under this law.

The 1955 Citizenship Act defined an ‘illegal migrant’ as a foreign national who entered India without a valid passport or other necessary documents; or with a passport and necessary documents, who has remained in India beyond the permitted period of time.

After the CAA was passed earlier this month (December 2019), there have been nationwide protests against this amendment.