Birthright Citizenship

Extracted Attributes

• Primary Basis

  Jus soli ("right of the soil"), citizenship granted by birth within U.S. territory and subject to its jurisdiction

• Secondary Basis

  Jus sanguinis ("right of blood"), citizenship granted by parentage to children born abroad to U.S. citizen parents

• General Application

  All persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction

• Constitutional Basis

  Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Citizenship Clause (adopted July 9, 1868)

• Political Opposition

  Donald Trump, explicitly opposing jus soli for children of undocumented immigrants

• Executive Order (2025)

  Executive Order 14160 of January 20, 2025, 'Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship', asserted non-recognition of jus soli for children of non-citizens

• Historical Exclusions from Jus Soli

  Children of foreign diplomats, occupying foreign forces, and Native Americans (until 1924)

• Legislation Expanding Jus Sanguinis

  Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994, Child Citizenship Act of 2000

• Key Supreme Court Precedent for Jus Soli

  United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)

• Current Legal Status of 2025 Executive Order

  Facing legal challenges, blocked by lower courts, and ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court

Timeline

• The Supreme Court's Dred Scott v. Sandford decision universally denied U.S. citizenship to African Americans, regardless of their place of birth. (Source: Wikipedia)

  1857

• The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, including the Citizenship Clause, was adopted, stating '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.' (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  1868-07-09

• The Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark generally understood the Citizenship Clause to guarantee citizenship to all persons born in the U.S. and 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof,' cementing the principle of jus soli. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, Web Search)

  1898

• The Indian Citizenship Act granted birthright citizenship to Native Americans, who were previously excluded. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  1924

• The Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act expanded the concept of jus sanguinis, granting citizenship to children born abroad if either parent is a U.S. citizen. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia)

  1994

• The Child Citizenship Act amended the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), further defining ancestry-based citizenship. (Source: Web Search)

  2000

• Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, explicitly opposing jus soli citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2016

• Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, continuing his opposition to jus soli citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2024

• President Trump issued Executive Order 14160, 'Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,' asserting that the federal government would not recognize jus soli birthright citizenship for the children of non-citizens. (Source: Summary, Wikipedia, Web Search)

  2025-01-20

• A lower court in Washington state blocked President Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-02

• The Trump administration appealed the lower court's ruling blocking the birthright citizenship executive order. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-03

• The Supreme Court's ruling in Trump v. CASA, concerning universal injunctions, impacted the legal landscape for challenges to the birthright citizenship executive order. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-07-01

• A federal appeals court ruled President Trump's executive order curtailing birthright citizenship unconstitutional. (Source: Web Search)

  2025-XX-XX

Birthright citizenship in the United States

United States citizenship can be acquired by birthright in two situations: by virtue of the person's birth within United States territory while under the jurisdiction thereof (jus soli) or because at least one of their parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of the person's birth (jus sanguinis). Birthright citizenship contrasts with citizenship acquired in other ways, for example by naturalization. Birthright citizenship is explicitly guaranteed to anyone born under the legal "jurisdiction" of the U.S. federal government by the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (adopted July 9, 1868), which 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 clause was a late addition to the Amendment, made in order to clarify what some of the drafters felt was already the law of the land: that all those born to parents beholden to U.S. law ("even of aliens") were guaranteed citizenship. Nonetheless, contrary laws in multiple states had culminated in the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (1857), wherein the Supreme Court universally denied U.S. citizenship to African Americans regardless of the jurisdiction of their birth. Since the Supreme Court decision United States v. Wong Kim Ark the Citizenship Clause has generally been understood to guarantee citizenship to all persons born in the United States and "subject to the jurisdiction thereof", which at common law excluded the children of foreign diplomats and occupying foreign forces. Native Americans living under tribal sovereignty were excluded from birthright citizenship until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Over time Congress and the courts did the same for unincorporated territories of Puerto Rico, the Marianas (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands), and the U.S. Virgin Islands (notably excluding American Samoa). The Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 granted birthright citizenship to children born elsewhere in the world if either parent is a U.S. citizen (with certain exceptions); this is known as jus sanguinis ("right of blood"). Political opposition to jus soli birthright citizenship has arisen in the United States over the past several decades, punctuated by the election of Donald Trump—who explicitly opposes jus soli citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants—as President of the United States in 2016 and 2024. Most legal observers agree that the Fourteenth Amendment explicitly endorses jus soli citizenship, but a dissenting view holds that the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to the children of unauthorized immigrants born on US soil. Upon taking office in 2025, Trump issued an executive order asserting that the federal government would not recognize jus soli birthright citizenship for the children of non-citizens. The executive order is currently being challenged in court.

Web Search Results

• Birthright Citizenship in the United States

  What is Birthright Citizenship? ----------------------------------- In law, birthright citizenship is simply defined as automatically granting citizenship (as a legal status) to children upon their birth. This status comes in two forms: ancestry-based citizenship (_jus sanguinis,_ a Latin term meaning “right of blood”), or birthplace-based citizenship (_jus soli,_ Latin for “right of the soil).” [...] The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship to every child born “within the jurisdiction of the United States.” The 1898 Supreme Court case of _United States v. Wong Kim Ark_ established an important precedent in its interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in that it cemented birthright citizenship for children of all immigrants. For over a century, anyone born on U.S. soil has automatically been conferred citizenship [...] Currently, the United States uses a combination of unrestricted birthplace-based citizenship _(jus soli)_ guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and restricted ancestry-based citizenship _(jus sanguinis)_ granted through the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, to determine birthright citizenship. The first means that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen at birth irrespective of parents’ citizenship

• In Birthright Citizenship Decision, the Supreme Court Expanded ...

  It is important to note at the outset that as of today, July 1, 2025, nothing has changed about birthright citizenship, notwithstanding Friday’s decision. That means that a child born in the United States today is a U.S. citizen, full stop. It does not matter what state they are born in or the immigration status of their parents; that child is fully protected by the Fourteenth Amendment’s citizenship guarantee. But what happens after July 25 depends on several factors. [...] On the surface, the Supreme Court’s ruling in the birthright citizenship case _Trump v. CASA_ was about the dry legal question of whether federal district courts can issue “universal” injunctions—orders constraining the government from acting against individuals beyond those who brought the lawsuit. But the impact of the Court’s decision is likely to be seismic, both because of the fundamental nature of the right involved in the underlying challenge and because of what the ruling portends for [...] Published: July 1, 2025 Author: Michelle Lapointe Birthright CitizenshipDue Process & the CourtsFederal Courts/JurisdictionImmigration 101 Share: Image 2: XImage 3: FacebookImage 4: LinkedInImage 5: Share Image 6: In Birthright Citizenship Decision, the Supreme Court Expanded Trump’s Power_The American Immigration Council is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. Sign up to receive our latest analysis as soon as it's published._

• Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

  # Presidential Documents 8449 Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 18 / Wednesday, January 29, 2025 / Presidential Documents Executive Order 14160 of January 20, 2025 Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: [...] through legislation that ‘‘a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof’’ is a national and citizen of the United States at birth, 8 U.S.C. 1401, generally mirroring the Fourteenth Amendment’s text. Among the categories of individuals born in the United States and not subject to the jurisdiction thereof, the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States: (1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully [...] permanently excluding people of African descent from eligibility for United States citizenship solely based on their race. But the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizen-ship universally to everyone born within the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’’ Consistent with this understanding, the Congress has further specified

• Trump's birthright citizenship order is unconstitutional, appeals court ...

  A federal appeals court said Wednesday that President Trump's executive order curtailing birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. The policy, which has been the subject of a complicated monthslong legal back-and-forth, is currently on hold. But Wednesday's decision appears to mark the first time that an appellate court has weighed in on the merits of Mr. Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship for many children of undocumented immigrants by executive order. [...] The order drew a flurry of lawsuits, as most legal experts have said the 14th Amendment — which was ratified in 1868 — automatically offers citizenship to virtually everybody born within the U.S., regardless of their parents' immigration status, with extremely narrow exceptions. [...] The issue reached the 9th Circuit after a lower court in Washington state blocked the birthright citizenship executive order in February, responding to a lawsuit from several Democratic states. The Trump administration in Marchappealed that ruling. It reasserted its arguments about who the 14th Amendment applies to, called the ruling "vastly overbroad" and argued the states did not have standing to sue over the order.

• [PDF] The Citizenship Clause: A "Legislative History"

  otherwise.42 The ―originalist‖ argument is that the legislative debates and (to a lesser extent) the overall history of American citizenship and political theory show a ―clear intent‖ that birthright citizenship should extend only to children of American citizens and perhaps of lawful permanent residents, but not reach the children of foreign nationals temporarily resident in the United States, whether legally or illegally. In order to evaluate this argument, a reader need not accept my theses [...] 947. 4. See 8 U.S.C. § 1401 (2006) (codifying birthright citizenship in the United States). 5. See In re Adoption of Peggy, 767 N.E.2d 29, 32, 35–36 (Mass. 2002) (holding that the immigration status of a child has no effect on the authority of the state‘s child protection agency to exercise jurisdiction over the child); S. Adam Ferguson, Not Without My Daughter: Deportation and the Termination of Parental Rights, 22 GEO. IMMIGR. L.J. 85, 89 (2007) (―Federal immigration law specifically [...] this Civil Rights Bill language that the proponents of a restrictive reading of the Clause regard as indicating the Fourteenth Amendment Framers‘ ―intent‖ to limit birthright citizenship to, in essence, children whose parents had no other citizenship status elsewhere in the world. The argument is that children of foreign citizens temporarily resident in the United States are ―subject to [the] foreign power‖ governing their parents‘ citizenship. Immediately after the new wording was offered,