The citizenship by birth contest

Two conflicting arguments will be considered by the US Supreme Court in the birthright citizenship case, says Morgan Marietta

- 

The US Supreme Court on 5 December 2025, agreed to review the long-simmering controversy over birthright citizenship. It will likely hand down a ruling next summer.

In January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order removing the recognition of citizenship for the U.S.-born children of both immigrants here illegally and visitors here only temporarily. The new rule is not retroactive. This change in longstanding U.S. policy sparked a wave of litigation culminating in Trump v. Washington, an appeal by Trump to remove the injunction put in place by federal courts.

When the justices weigh the arguments, they will focus on the meaning of the first sentence of the 14th Amendment, known as the citizenship clause: "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."

Both sides agree that to be granted birthright citizenship under the Constitution, a child must be born inside U.S. borders and the parents must be "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. However, each side will give a very different interpretation of what the second requirement means. Who falls under "the jurisdiction" of the United States in this context?

As a close observer of the court, I anticipate a divided outcome grounded in strong arguments from each side.

Simply put, the argument against the Trump administration is that the 14th Amendment's expansion of citizenship after the eradication of slavery was meant to be broad rather than narrow, encompassing not only formerly enslaved Black people but all persons who arrived on U.S. soil under the protection of the Constitution.

The Civil War amendments - the 13th, 14th and 15th-established inherent equality as a constitutional value, which embraced all persons born in the nation without reference to race, ethnicity or origin.