Birthright Citizenship

A new study further undermines revisionist claims about birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment, noting a dog that did not bark.

Jonathan H. Adler | 12.23.2025 8:53 AM

One of President Trump's first actions in his second term was an Executive Order purporting to limit birthright citizenship to the children of citizens and permanent residents. The Supreme Court will consider the lawfulness of this order in case to be heard this spring.

Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment provides:

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.

It is generally accepted that this language did not extend citizenship to the children of foreign diplomats and hostile armies born on American soil, as neither would be "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. According to the Trump Administration, this language also excludes the children of temporary visitors and those not lawfully present in the country.

The Trump Administration position is based upon a revisionist account of the Fourteenth Amendment. While some recent scholarship has raised interesting points about the contours of Section One, and perhaps raised some questions about Congress's authority to define the scope of the jurisdiction of the United........

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