US birthright citizenship: Who it will affect, 4 other things to know about Trump’s order
President Donald Trump has announced his intention to end birthright citizenship, which grants automatic US citizenship to anyone born on American soil.
On Monday, he signed an executive order called “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” in the Oval Office after his inauguration.
The order applies to babies born after February 19.
Experts say this decision will likely face legal challenges because it changes how the 14th Amendment has been understood for over 150 years.
What is birthright citizenship?
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, passed in 1868, created birthright citizenship. It says that “all persons born” in the United States “are citizens of the United States.”
It was meant to give citizenship to freed slaves after the Civil War. This amendment also overturned the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision from 1857, which said African Americans could not be U.S. citizens.
In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the idea of birthright citizenship in the case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark. Wong Kim Ark was born in the U.S. to Chinese immigrant parents.
After traveling to China, he was not allowed to reenter the U.S. The Court decided that because he was born in the U.S., he was a citizen, no matter his parents’ immigration status.
Who Would Be Affected?
The policy seeks to exclude two groups of infants from citizenship:
Babies born to mothers who are in the U.S. unlawfully and fathers who are not citizens or permanent residents.
Babies born to mothers temporarily in the U.S., like on student, work, or tourist visas, and fathers who are neither citizens nor permanent residents.
The policy also defines parents as “male and female biological progenitors.” This means it excludes nonbinary and queer couples.
Impact on Families and Babies
If this order is enforced, many newborns would not be U.S. citizens. These babies might not get birth certificates, Social Security numbers, or passports. Without these, it would be harder for them to access services or travel. Families, especially those with undocumented or temporary immigration status, would face tough challenges. Mothers could be at risk of deportation shortly after giving birth.
Does This Follow the 14th Amendment?
Many legal experts think this order goes against the 14th Amendment. For over 150 years, this amendment has granted citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, no matter their parents’ immigration status.
Trump says people have wanted this change for a long time. He believes his administration has strong legal arguments to defend the policy. However, experts think the courts will likely block the order.
Along with this order, other policies were announced to reduce immigration and deport millions of undocumented people.
A 2016 Pew Research study said 250,000 babies were born to undocumented parents in the U.S. that year. By 2022, 1.2 million U.S. citizens were children of undocumented parents. The Migration Policy Institute predicts that ending birthright citizenship could create 4.7 million undocumented people by 2050.
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump said that children of undocumented immigrants, even if born in the U.S., should be deported with their families.
“I don’t want to be breaking up families,” Trump said last December. “So the only way you don’t break up the family is you keep them together and you have to send them all back.”
Vanguard News
