The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case challenging the legality of a Trump-era policy seeking to narrow the definition of birthright citizenship, a landmark decision with possibly far-reaching consequences for millions of American families.the case centers on whether the children of non-citizens are automatically granted U.S. citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment.
This legal battle arrives amid renewed debate over immigration policy and the rights of individuals born in the United States to parents who are not citizens. A ruling in favor of the policy could strip citizenship from an estimated five million to six million Americans born to non-citizen parents, disproportionately impacting communities of color and immigrant families. The court’s decision, expected by late June 2024, will clarify the scope of the Citizenship Clause and shape the future of birthright citizenship in the U.S.
The Trump administration argued that the Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship clause was not intended to cover the children of non-citizens, asserting they are not ”subject to the jurisdiction” of the United states. This position was advanced by D. John Sauer, the government’s top lawyer at the time, who urged the high court to review the case, claiming the amendment was ”adopted to grant citizenship to newly freed slaves and their children, not … to the children of aliens who are unlawfully or temporarily in the United States.”
Currently, the U.S. operates under jus soli, the principle that anyone born within the country’s borders is a citizen, a practice enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment. Though, the challenge seeks to redefine “jurisdiction” to exclude individuals whose parents are not citizens or are in the country illegally.
Twenty-four Republican-led states and 27 Republican lawmakers, including Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have publicly supported the Trump administration’s executive order, signaling broad political backing for a more restrictive interpretation of birthright citizenship. The case now before the Supreme Court represents a pivotal moment in the ongoing national conversation about immigration and belonging.
