Birthright Citizenship
What Is Birthright Citizenship?
Birthright citizenship is the principle that people born in the United States are Americans—full members of our society from the moment they are born. It reflects a simple and powerful idea: if you’re born here, you belong here. In the United States, birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War. The amendment states:“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”This constitutional guarantee was intentionally written to ensure equality under the law, regardless of race, ancestry, or parentage. It was enacted to overturn the Supreme Court’s infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision, which had declared that Black people born in the United States could never be citizens.
How Birthright Citizenship Works in the United States
The United States recognizes two primary paths to citizenship at birth:Birthplace‑Based Citizenship (Jus Soli)
The U.S. follows a principle known as jus soli, or “right of the soil,” meaning that nearly everyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. The Supreme Court confirmed this interpretation over a century ago, in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), holding that children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents are citizens at birth. The only narrow exceptions are children born to foreign diplomats, who are not considered “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.Ancestry‑Based Citizenship (Jus Sanguinis)
U.S. law also allows children born abroad to U.S. citizens to acquire citizenship through their parents, provided certain legal requirements are met. Together, these rules create a clear, fair, and race‑neutral standard for who is an American—one that does not depend on lineage, wealth, or skin color.Why Birthright Citizenship Matters
It Guarantees Equality and Prevents a Two‑Tiered Society
Birthright citizenship ensures that all people born in the United States are treated equally under the law. Weakening or ending this principle would create a dangerous two‑tiered system in which some U.S.‑born children could be denied citizenship because of who their parents are. Millions of U.S. citizen children have at least one immigrant parent. Stripping birthright citizenship could leave many children stateless or vulnerable to deportation from the only country they have ever known.It Strengthens Belonging and Social Cohesion
Birthright citizenship promotes a shared sense of belonging. When people are recognized as full members of society, they are more likely to invest in their communities, pursue education and careers, and participate in civic life. This inclusion strengthens democracy and brings communities together. Creating a permanent subclass of people who grow up in the U.S. but are denied full membership undermines national unity and weakens the social fabric.It Reflects Core American Values
Birthright citizenship embodies deeply held American ideals of fairness, opportunity, and non‑discrimination. It affirms that citizenship is not inherited through bloodlines or ancestry, but grounded in shared commitment and equal rights. Most countries in the Western Hemisphere recognize some form of birthright citizenship. Ending it would make the United States an outlier and betray a long‑standing constitutional tradition.Birthright Citizenship and the Courts Today
Birthright citizenship has been settled law for more than 125 years. Ending or limiting it would require either:- A constitutional amendment (which requires approval by two‑thirds of Congress and ratification by three‑quarters of the states), or
- A radical departure by the Supreme Court from long‑standing precedent interpreting the Fourteenth Amendment.
Bottom Line
Birthright citizenship provides a simple, fair, and unifying rule: if you are born in the United States, you are an American. It ensures equal treatment under the law, prevents statelessness, strengthens communities, and reflects our nation’s highest ideals. Protecting birthright citizenship means protecting the idea that everyone belongs—and that our future is stronger when we uphold equality for all.
Supreme Court Expresses Skepticism at Trump’s Effort to Eliminate Birthright Citizenship
- Birthright Citizenship
- April 1, 2026
Over 150 years ago, with the embers of the Civil War still smoldering, members of Congress gathered to write the 14th Amendment.…
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Breaking Down Trump’s Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship
- Birthright Citizenship
- February 7, 2025
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed…
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What Does the Supreme Court Ruling on Birthright Citizenship Mean?
- Birthright Citizenship
- June 27, 2025
The Supreme Court issued a decision in the CASA v. Trump case on Friday,…
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Reframing the Birthright Citizenship Debate with Facts
In the latest flame war on immigration, some politicians are targeting the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. They blithely state time and time again that undocumented immigrants are flooding the border to have their children in the U.S., thereby guaranteeing them citizenship. Their solution to this supposed “baby dropping epidemic” is amending the U.S. Constitution by repealing the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that, with very few exceptions, all persons born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. Sadly, however, their arguments are thin, the facts misrepresented and their attempts at reelection using get-tough on immigration platforms even thinner. When facts don’t matter and vilifying immigrants is par for the course, attacking U.S. citizen children probably seems like a winning reelection strategy. Read More
Pew Report Sheds Little Light on Birthright Citizenship
Washington D.C. – Over the last several weeks, a handful of elected officials have re-ignited a call for the repeal of birthright citizenship. Claiming that countless unauthorized and temporary immigrants are coming to the United States solely to give birth, some are suggesting changing the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Read More
The Wrong Side of History: Immigration, the GOP and the Next Generation of Voters
As anti-immigrant fervor continues to swirl in the headlines, it’s not difficult for readers to discern who’s stirring the pot. Over the weekend, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) became the latest GOPer to publically support the effort to end birthright citizenship—an effort that seeks to repeal the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Last month, immigration reformers-turned-hawks, Arizona Republican Senators McCain and Kyl as well as Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), also jumped on the birthright bandwagon. Couple this recent effort with Arizona’s “show me your papers” law saga and months of punditry and restrictionist rhetoric on enforcement and you have a hostile GOP narrative of exclusion and anti-immigration hysteria—which as some point out, is a political recipe for disaster come election time. Read More
Hysterical “Tea Party” Rhetoric on Immigration is Devoid of Facts
The ever-hysterical Tea Party is now hysterical about unauthorized immigrants. In a frenzied email blast to its members, the Tea Party Nation warns that the Obama administration wants to grant “amnesty” to the millions of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, whom the Tea Party alleges have inflicted various “horrors” upon Americans by stealing their jobs and committing unspeakable crimes. Not surprisingly, the Tea Party Nation gets its facts completely wrong. As a litany of evidence-based reports have demonstrated, most native-born workers are not in competition with immigrants for the same jobs, and immigrants are less likely than the native-born to commit serious crimes, regardless of their legal status. Read More
Senators Graham and Kyl Buy Tickets to the Birthright Citizenship Dog and Pony Show
Over the weekend, the second-ranking member of the Senate Republican leadership, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) joined Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in considering a repeal of birthright citizenship laws through a constitutional amendment. Birthright citizenship, guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, is the cornerstone of American civil rights and affirms that, with very few exceptions, all persons born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens—regardless of their parents' citizenship. Although the Supreme Court has consistently upheld birthright citizenship, year after year restrictionist groups and legislators trot out the “repeal birthright citizenship” mantra in the hopes of adding a few more immigration extremists to their dog and pony show audience. Read More
More Right-Handed Pot Stirring: Internal USCIS Draft Memo Exploited for Political Gain
Conspiracy theorists hate it when no one pays attention. Witness last month’s letter to President Obama in which eight Republican Senators accused him of planning to circumvent the will of Congress through a regulatory grant of “amnesty” suggesting that plans were afoot in the Department of Homeland Security to make it happen. Despite their mock outrage, the letter barely made a ripple in the immigration debate. And just a few days after his speech on immigration, President Obama unequivocally stated that he wanted a real solution to our immigration crisis, rejecting both a free pass for all undocumented immigrants and a scorched earth, deport them all approach. Read More
New Reports Describe the “Green-Washing” of Nativist Hate
In a new report, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) describes the rejuvenated efforts of anti-immigrant groups to repackage themselves as environmentalists who are trying to save the United States from the supposed ecological ills of “over-population.” According to the report, entitled Greenwash: Nativists, Environmentalism & the Hypocrisy of Hate, the two-faced nature of these efforts is “astounding” given the dismal environmental records of the organizations and political candidates to whom nativist groups tend to contribute funds. Moreover, this “green-washing” of the nativist agenda also amounts to a white-washing of the anti-immigrant movement’s white-nationalist roots. Read More
Ending Birthright Citizenship Won’t Solve Our Immigration Problems
The people who brought you SB1070 in Arizona are now preparing to challenge one of the fundamental principles of the U.S. Constitution—birthright citizenship. Birthright citizenship, or the principle of jus soli, means that any person born within the territory of the U.S is a citizen, regardless of the citizenship of one’s parents. This principle was established well before the U.S. Constitution, and was enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment. It was necessary to include the citizenship clause in the Fourteenth Amendment because the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision of 1857 had denied citizenship to the children of slaves. Following the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment righted that injustice and became the foundation for civil rights law, equal protection, and due process in the United States. Read More
The Folly of Repealing Birthright Citizenship
Washington D.C. – This Sunday, the editorial pages of the Washington Post included a piece penned by journalist George Will on the topic of birthright citizenship. Will highlights a scholar who argues against giving those born in the United States birthright citizenship and characterizes the repeal of a 150… Read More
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