President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, issued an executive order, immediately after assuming office on January 20, 2025, ending birthright citizenship for babies born to temporary residents of the country and undocumented immigrants. The executive order number 14156 issued by the President seeks to abolish the provision of citizenship by birth enshrined in the US constitution. This approach by the President is in line with his anti-immigration stance which became apparent during his election campaign.
The Presidential executive order essentially means that the Federal Government of the United States would no longer recognize the US-born children of residents living on temporary visa and undocumented immigrants as lawful citizens of USA. This move by the President is not receiving public support with a Pew Research Center survey showing that 56% of adult Americans disapprove the directive. On the other hand, both Democrat and Republican appointed judges have not backed President Trump on this issue.
However, the Republican Party is aligned with President Trump to end birth-based citizenship rights. A group of Republican Senators have introduced a bill to restrict birth-based citizenship for children of temporary visa holders and illegal immigrants.
Facts about Birthright Citizenship
Birthright-based citizenship adopted by the United States over a century ago provides citizenship on the basis of the birthplace of a child. Thus, any baby born within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States is automatically a citizen at birth, regardless of the citizenship status of the parents.
14th Amendment to the constitution of USA, enacted in the aftermath of the civil war, sought to provide citizenship rights to African-Americans. The need for this constitutional provision arose as a result of US Supreme Court’s decision in the landmark Dredd Scott vs Stanford case which denied citizenship to African-Americans on the basis of race.
The wordings of the first sentence of the 14th Amendment are “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.” The spirit of the 14th Amendment was guaranteeing citizenship rights to those born in USA, regardless of their race.
Legal Challenges to the Presidential Order
President Donald Trump’s executive order abolishing birth-based citizenship has run into rough weather with multiple lawsuits being filed against it. The lead was taken by the attorney generals of 22 states ruled by the Democratic Party, the political opposition to President Trump. Other civil right groups like Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, American Civil Liberties Union and State Democracy Defenders Fund, and expecting mothers have also filed lawsuits in various states against the Presidential executive order.
The basic argument made by various lawsuits is that the President of the United States does not have the power to violate the provisions of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, 1868, and define the eligibility for citizenship at birth. A precedent which is being relied upon by the litigants is the landmark judgement of the US Supreme Court in the 1898 US vs Wong Kim Ark case which held that a Chinese born on US soil was a citizen at birth.
The litigants also seek to establish that by stripping US-born babies of certain sections of citizenship rights, the Trump Administration is harming the constitution and multi-ethnic identity of the United States in the garb of immigration and border security.
Current Legal Status
On 5th February 2025, a federal court in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by expecting mothers. The injunction blocked the implementation of the executive order, pending the resolution of the case or a stay secured by the Trump administration. The presiding judge, Judge Boardman, quoted the 1898 judgment in US vs Wong Kim Ark to justify his decision.
The Presidential executive order against birthright citizenship has been blocked by three other federal courts of Seattle, New Hampshire and Boston. Thus, a total of four federal courts have already blocked the implementation of this order.
On 19th February 2025, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied a plea by the Department of Justice to stay the nationwide preliminary injunction issued in Washington. On 28th February 2025, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to stay the nationwide preliminary injunction issued in Maryland.
Altogether, the matter is under litigation and is likely to reach the US Supreme Court.
Trump Administration’s Position
The Trump Administration is determined to fight a legal battle to end birth-based citizenship rights of US-born children of temporary residents and undocumented immigrants. A statement issued by the White House criticised the radical leftists and called the lawsuits an extension of the left’s resistance.
Speaking on the issue, White House Press Secretary Harrison Fields said that the radical leftists can either reject the will of the people or work with President Trump.