Birthright Citizenship Cannot Be Banned by Trump

The US Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in two weeks on a case involving birthright citizenship, with legal experts examining the historical foundations of the issue, Travis Gettys reported for Raw Story.

The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

The 14th Amendment, adopted during the Reconstruction era, grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

The provision was intended to apply to children born to formerly enslaved people, but its broader implications remain central to modern legal debates.

Experts note that early US immigration policies were far from open, with colonial and state governments actively shaping migration through selective inclusion and exclusion.

Anna O. Law, a constitutional scholar at CUNY Brooklyn College, emphasized the importance of the phrase “all persons” in the amendment, noting that the framers deliberately avoided limiting protections to citizens alone.

She said the language reflects an effort to ensure federal protection against state-level discrimination, particularly in the aftermath of the Civil War.