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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Only a couple of days before the Supreme Court is set to hear merits arguments on birthright citizenship in one of the highest-profile cases of the year, President Donald Trump lashed out against the longstanding right.
"Birthright Citizenship is not about rich people from China, and the rest of the World, who want their children, and hundreds of thousands more, FOR PAY, to ridiculously become citizens of the United States of America," he wrote on Truth Social in the early hours of Monday morning.
"It is about the BABIES OF SLAVES! We are the only Country in the World that dignifies this subject with even discussion," he said. "Look at the dates of this long ago legislation - THE EXACT END OF THE CIVIL WAR!"
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He went on to add: "Dumb Judges and Justices will not a great Country make!"
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Why It Matters
Birthright citizenship, which gives U.S. citizenship to all children born in the country, became part of the nation’s Constitution in 1868 as an effort to protect recently freed slaves from deportation.
Section 1 of the 14 Amendment 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."
Trump targeted this amendment in the very first day of his second mandate, issuing an executive order banning birthright citizenship and arguing that this section of the Constitution was outdated. The move can be seen as part of his wider anti-immigration crackdown and "America First" agenda, which includes pushing for the passing of the SAVE America Act, a legislation which would require people to provide ID and proof of citizenship to vote.
What To Know
The president’s executive order trying to ban birthright citizenship, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," was blocked from taking effect by four federal courts and two appeals courts so far.
Trump’s defense of the order—and the arguments that the administration’s representatives will likely push forward this week—is based on the first sentence of the 14th Amendment. This states that the citizenship clause makes U.S. citizens of "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof."
But for Trump, as he stated in the order, people who are in the country illegally or temporarily are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the U.S. and their U.S.-born children should not be able to obtain citizenship.
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on Wednesday, April 1, over whether Trump’s executive order banning birthright citizenship, signed on January 20, 2025, is constitutional or not.
Justices will also weigh in on its compatibility with an 86-year-old federal law that has until now widely been understood as giving U.S. citizenship to everyone born in the country, with the exception of children of foreign diplomats and invading armies.
What People Are Saying
Trump said last year: "Hundreds of thousands of people are pouring into our country under birthright citizenship, and it wasn't meant for that reason."
Cecillia Wang, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union who will face off solicitor general D. John Sauer on Wednesday, said: "We have the president of the United States trying to radically reinterpret the definition of American citizenship."
Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote that the Supreme Court should use the case to correct "long-enduring misconceptions about the Constitution’s meaning."
Liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said last year that the Trump administration’s effort to defend the executive order was "an impossible task in light of the Constitution’s text, history, this Court’s precedents, federal law, and Executive Branch practice."
What Happens Next
A decision in the case, which could reshape and end a longtime, constitutionally enshrined practice in the U.S., is not expected for months. Should the court back Trump and his order, this would apply only to people born 30 days after the order was signed, on January 20, 2025.
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