Defining Citizenship |
The United States is once again confronting a question that cuts to the heart of its democratic self-understanding: who belongs, and on what terms? The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the challenge to birthright citizenship ~ ignited by the Trump Administration’s attempt to deny automatic citizenship to children born to undocumented migrants and temporary-visa holders ~ represents far more than a procedural dispute. It is a moment of reckoning with the country’s own constitutional promises, its anxieties about immigration, and the political rhetoric that has transformed a settled principle into a fresh battleground. For over a century and a half, the framework has been clear.
The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution enshrined a sweeping guarantee of citizenship for anyone born on American soil, save for the narrow and historically specific exceptions of children of diplomats and occupying foreign forces. This guarantee was designed to end the ambiguity........