What is birthright citizenship? What to know ahead of Supreme Court arguments
What is birthright citizenship? What to know ahead of Supreme Court arguments
Kate Perez, USA TODAYMon, March 30, 2026 at 6:38 PM UTC
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The U.S. Supreme Court is set to convene and hear arguments on Wednesday, April 1 on the legality of President Donald Trump's move to limit birthright citizenship by executive order, the president's policy and argument that says children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily are not entitled to citizenship.
The court's deciding of who is an American citizen by birth comes as immigration remains a point of contention in parts of the U.S. and in the wake of a crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in cities across the country. The Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court's October 2025 rejection of the president's argument.
If the court swings his way, Trump's interpretation of a 19th century constitutional provision would fundamentally alter how the citizenship clause has long been understood. Trump's desire to reframe birthright citizenship goes back to his 2024 presidential campaign. Following his inauguration in January 2025, the president directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the citizenship of children born in the U.S. without at least one parent who is an American citizen or a lawful permanent resident.
As the debate approaches, here's what to know about birthright citizenship in the U.S.
More on birthright citizenship: What history reveals about Trump’s move to limit birthright citizenship
What does the 14th Amendment say about citizenship by birth?
The 14th Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution in 1868, following the Civil War, and granted citizenship and freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. A clause in the amendment, known as the Citizenship Clause, is at the center of the birthright citizenship discussion and is what the Supreme Court will decide whether or not Trump's policy violates.
The clause 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."
How has the Supreme Court ruled on the 14th Amendment in the past?
An 1898 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark is considered the historical standard that children born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents are entitled to American citizenship. Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents, was denied re-entry to the United States after a trip to China, despite being born within U.S. territory. In a 6-2 decision, the court held that Wong Kim Ark was a U.S. citizen because of his birth in the United States, regardless of his parents' Chinese citizenship.
Wong Kim Ark, who took his case to the Supreme Court who ruled in 1898 in Wong's favor, establishing firmly that the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment recognizes birthright citizenship. Wong is seen in this photo housed in the National Archives from a federal immigration investigation case conducted under the Chinese Exclusion Acts. National Archives/Handout via REUTERS
Trump's Justice Department has since argued that the court's ruling in that case was narrower, applying to children whose parents had a "permanent domicile and residence in the United States."
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What is the Trump administration's view on birthright citizenship?
According to Reuters, the administration contends that the 14th Amendment does not extend to immigrants who are in the country illegally or even to immigrants whose presence is lawful but temporary, such as university students or those on work visas.Trump campaigned on the issue on birthright citizenship and signed an executive order on the first day of his second term, declaring that the "Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States." The order directed federal agencies not to recognize the citizenship of babies born in the U.S. who do not have at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident.
The order states that the 14th Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," adding that Congress has specified that "a person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" is a national and citizen of the United States at birth. USA TODAY previously reported that the clause, "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," most commonly excludes children born to foreign diplomats.
President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House, on June 27, 2025, in Washington D.C., following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limits the application of birthright citizenship.
According to the executive order, privilege of U.S. citizenship "does not automatically extend" to people born in the country when:
That person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
That person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.
The number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. reached a record high of 14 million in 2023 following two years of steady growth, according to estimates by the Pew Research Center, before appearing to slow in the second half of 2024. Their U.S.-born children are considered by the government to have U.S. citizenship.In the past, Trump has complained about foreign women visiting the United States to give birth and obtain U.S. citizenship for their children. More recently, the president took to Truth Social on March 30 ahead of arguments, criticizing the U.S. court system and saying that other countries want their people to become United States citizens.
"The World is getting rich selling citizenships to our Country, while at the same time laughing at how STUPID our U.S. Court System has become (TARIFFS!)," Trump wrote. "Dumb Judges and Justices will not a great Country make!"
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Who is challenging Trump's order?
Trump's order sparked a series of lawsuits, with plaintiffs arguing that the policy violates a right protected by the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment: anyone born in the United States is a citizen.For this case, American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Cecillia Wang is going up against the Trump administration at the high court. USA TODAY previously reported that Wang said her American citizenship was made possible by the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship guarantee and by changes to laws that had restricted Asian immigration.
Without those changes, she said, her parents may not have been able to come to the United States from Taiwan to attend graduate school. And because they had not yet become naturalized citizens when she was born, her citizenship turned on the 14th Amendment.
People demonstrated May 15, 2025 outside the Supreme Court before justices heard oral arguments in Trump v. CASA, Inc., a birthright citizenship case.
"To have a Chinese American legal director of the ACLU standing up to defend what Wong Kim Ark and his bravery helped to establish just goes to show how Wong Kim Ark and the 14th Amendment have shaped the America that we all live in today," said Cody Wofsy, a lawyer with the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project.
Contributors: USA TODAY's Terry Moseley, Francesca Chambers, Kinsey Crowley, Maureen Groppe, David Jackson, Bart Jansen, Anna Kaufman and James Powel; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court to hear arguments on birthright citizenship. What is it?
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