Sharing the Facts About Birthright Citizenship

The United States guarantees citizenship to all children born inside its borders, regardless of the citizenship status of their parents. This guarantee, known as birthright citizenship, was established by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. It’s been in a place for more than 150 years.

Hours after returning to power, President Trump issued an executive order that attempted to deny citizenship to some children born in the U.S. The order says the federal government will no longer consider the U.S.-born children of undocumented people, lawful temporary residents, and DACA beneficiaries to be citizens. It defies the Constitution and would have major consequences for states.

Multiple lawsuits challenging the order were quickly filed, including by attorneys general from 22 states, citing imminent harm to those born on U.S. soil that are the children of undocumented or temporary immigrants.

On Feb. 5, 2025, a federal judge in Maryland blocked the Trump administration from enforcing the order nationwide until the case is resolved, including while an appeal is ongoing. The judge wrote in her ruling that the executive order “directly conflicts with 125-year-old binding Supreme Court precedent.” She cited the 1898 U.S. Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which held that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right with only a few limited exceptions. No court has ever adopted the Trump administration’s position.

In the days after the Maryland judge issued her ruling, judges in Washington state, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts also blocked the executive order for similar reasons.

The Department of Justice has appealed the lower court decisions to the First, Fourth, and Ninth Circuits. All are still pending. The department asked the courts to lift the blocks while appeals are ongoing. If those requests are granted, they would allow the order to go into effect. On Feb. 19, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the administration’s request to lift the block issued in Washington. On Feb. 28, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals did the same for the block issued in Maryland. And on March 11, the First Circuit did so again for the block issued in Massachusetts.

On March 13, the administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to partially suspend the blocks by the judges in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington, while the circuit courts hear its appeals. In the administration’s application to the justices, Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris said that the blocks placed by lower court judges shouldn’t apply nationwide, but rather only to the individuals and states that sued.

Here are some key takeaways about birthright citizenship and the executive order:

• The Constitution is clear. The U.S. guarantees citizenship to all children born inside its borders. Denying that right is not only unconstitutional, but against the very values and foundations of our nation laid out in the Constitution.
• The 14th Amendment states that every child born in the U.S. is considered equal under the law and entitled to full participation in our civic life and economy. That’s a foundational principle of our democracy, enshrined in law and upheld in the courts time and time again. And it’s a principle we must defend on behalf of all American people.
• The courts have already spoken. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that citizenship automatically applies to all children born in the United States, including the children of most immigrants. That’s a guarantee we’ve honored for a century and a half. The court has identified only a few extremely limited exceptions, such as children born to foreign diplomats.
• The states decide when we change the Constitution. The president can’t just rewrite it whenever he wants. The text of the 14th Amendment is clear. Changing birthright citizenship would require the consent of two-thirds of Congress and then ratification by at least 38 states. We have checks and balances in this country.
• State officials are busy doing the jobs the people elected them to do. This executive order would swamp both state officials, and taxpayers, with new burdens and divert critical state resources.
  • Under Trump’s order, millions of children would be ineligible for food and health programs that are available to all citizens and administered by the states. In each state, for each program, state officials would have to create new procedures and go through administrative hurdles to sift through who is and isn’t a birthright citizen. Meanwhile, large numbers of children could go hungry and be left without homes. Some states would also have to change the procedures they use for issuing birth certificates.
• This sweeping attempt to exclude U.S.-born children from citizenship, in violation of the 14th amendment, is an attack on the rule of law and the Constitution.