Overview
- The Supreme Court is set to hear Trump v. Barbara on April 1, a case challenging an effort to curb birthright citizenship.
- The dispute arises from a Jan. 20, 2025 executive order seeking to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented migrants and some temporary visa holders.
- Law professor Ilya Somin contends the administration’s theory would have excluded many freed slaves and their children, contradicting the Citizenship Clause’s Reconstruction-era purpose to reverse Dred Scott.
- Constitutional historian Anna O. Law highlights debates indicating the framers intended birthright citizenship to include children of immigrants widely opposed at the time, including Chinese immigrants.
- Law notes birthright citizenship was entrenched in the Constitution for durability and cannot be changed by executive order, while experts point to only narrow, longstanding exceptions such as for children of foreign diplomats or births on foreign public ships.