Born in the U.S.A.: Protecting the right of birthright citizenship

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly states that "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 means birthright citizenship is automatic for nearly everyone born in the U.S., regardless of their parents' status, according to University of Virginia law professor Amanda Frost. She emphasizes there is no constitutional ambiguity on this point.

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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.

However, public opinion on the matter is divided. A Pew Research Center poll found that 50 percent of Americans believe children of undocumented immigrants should be granted citizenship at birth, while 49 percent disagree.

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with very narrow exceptions, being for the children of diplomats and invading occupying armies. Everyone else is a citizen at birth.

Adding to the debate, former President Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 aiming to deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily. This order, which could affect approximately 250,000 children annually, was blocked by a lower court and is now awaiting a Supreme Court decision.

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This is the decision from 1857, in which the Supreme Court said that no Black person, whether enslaved or free, could ever be a citizen of the United States.

The Supreme Court's history with citizenship rights includes the deeply flawed Dred Scott v. Sandford decision in 1857, which wrongly declared that Black people could not be citizens. The passage of the 14th Amendment after the Civil War aimed to rectify such injustices and ensure citizenship for formerly enslaved people and the children of immigrants. The case of Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese parents, further tested these rights when he was denied re-entry in 1895, but he fought to assert his citizenship.

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For me, Wong Kim Ark represents the common man. He wasn't rich. He wasn't famous. He didn't have any extraordinary abilities. What he did [have] was the willingness t