Overview
- Trump v. Barbara is before the Supreme Court over a Jan. 20, 2025 executive order seeking to deny birthright citizenship to U.S.-born children of undocumented parents and temporary visa holders.
- The new Lawfare article contends that accepting the government’s position would undermine the Citizenship Clause’s core purpose of securing citizenship for newly freed slaves and their descendants.
- The author argues the administration’s theories—including illegal entry, purported foreign allegiance, and lack of domicile—would, if applied consistently, have denied citizenship to many freed slaves and their children.
- The administration’s own Supreme Court brief acknowledges that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause was adopted to confer citizenship on newly freed slaves and their children.
- The analysis notes longstanding narrow exceptions for children of foreign diplomats or those born on foreign public ships and argues these do not support the executive order’s broader restrictions.