Birthright Citizenship
Birthright Citizenship in the United States
- Birthright Citizenship
- March 14, 2025
This fact sheet explains birthright citizenship, the Fourteenth Amendment, and its interpretations. Who is eligible for birthright citizenship? Can birthright citizenship be…
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Birthright Citizenship: What It Is and Why We Need to Preserve It
- Birthright Citizenship
- August 21, 2015
There has been a media frenzy over one of the more draconian components of…
Read MoreBirthright Citizenship: Myths, Facts and Why It Matters
- Demographics
- September 16, 2009
The issue of birthright citizenship, although not traditionally a sexy topic, is not without…
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What Does the Supreme Court Ruling on Birthright Citizenship Mean?
The Supreme Court issued a decision in the CASA v. Trump case on Friday, handing the Trump administration a major win by limiting judges’ ability to block unlawful policies nationwide. This could open the door for conflicting rules about who is guaranteed birthright citizenship, largely dependent upon where they live. Read More
Breaking Down Trump’s Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship
By Laila Khan and Raul Pinto On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship for babies of undocumented immigrants and for people with temporary status in the U.S. Executive Order 14156: Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship… Read More
The Origins of Birthright Citizenship in the United States, Explained
For over a century, the United States has applied the principle of jus soli, or birthplace-based citizenship, to grant American citizenship to anyone born on U.S. territory regardless of their parent’s immigration status. But over the past few decades, anti-immigrant politicians have advocated for the restriction of birthplace-based citizenship to… Read More
The Lie About Kamala Harris and Birthright Citizenship
People born in the United States are American citizens, regardless of what President Trump claims. Birthright citizenship—enshrined by the Fourteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution—guarantees it. Trump recently suggested to the contrary after a Newsweek column erroneously argued that vice presidential candidate… Read More
Congress Passes Bill Ensuring US Citizenship for Children of Military Members
A bill that would ensure automatic U.S. citizenship for the children of U.S. military service members will soon hit the president’s desk. The Citizenship for Children of Military Members & Civil Servants Act passed the House and Senate with bipartisan support last Thursday. Until recently, children born abroad to… Read More
Federal Court Orders Government to Recognize American Samoans as US Citizens
In a landmark decision last week, a federal court in Utah ordered the U.S. government to extend birthright citizenship to people born in the U.S. territory of American Samoa. In a lengthy decision, Judge Clark Waddoups declared that his decision was “required by the mandate of the Fourteenth Amendment as… Read More
Ending Birthright Citizenship Could Put All Americans’ Nationality in Jeopardy
On Monday night, President Trump told reporters that he intended to end birthright citizenship and claimed that he could do so with an executive order. Birthright citizenship comes from the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states that “Any person born or… Read More
Texas Ends Attempt to Deny Birth Certificates to Children of Immigrants
More than a year ago, Texas county officials began to require that foreign passports presented by parents seeking to obtain their child’s birth certificate include a valid U.S. visa. The state also ended its practice of accepting Mexican “matriculas” as a form of identification. As a result, many… Read More
Giving the Immigration Facts a Fighting Chance
As we move through the 2016 presidential election cycle, the issue of immigration will continue to be a central topic of the debate. The United States is at a tipping point after more than two decades without meaningful upgrades to its immigration system. Current U.S. law does not provide sufficient… Read More
The Battle Over Birth Certificates in Texas
In May, a group of undocumented parents, represented by South Texas Civil Rights Project and Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, filed a lawsuit against the State of Texas for denying their children, born in the state, birth certificates. The legal team also asked the judge to issue a preliminary injunction—a… Read More
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