(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear whether children born in the U.S., including to undocumented parents, automatically receive birthright citizenship.
The fight centers on the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. Days after taking office, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order seeking to end the practice as currently understood.
Critics point to high-profile “birth tourism” schemes as evidence the Constitution was never meant to be interpreted this way, including wealthy foreign nationals—particularly from China—using U.S. surrogates to secure citizenship for their children.
A Wall Street Journal investigation found Chinese billionaires orchestrating dozens of such births. Another example: a Mexican cartel leader’s apparent heir is a U.S. citizen by birth. Opponents call Trump’s executive order unconstitutional and warn it would upend established law. The justices are expected to rule by early July.
