BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
The 14th Amendment (ratified 1868) to the US Constitution clearly states that “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.” Before this amendment some states (e.g. Maine, Massachusetts) recognized black residents as citizens, but most states did not.
Pres. Trump and his deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, want to end “birthright citizenship”, that is granting citizenship to anyone born in the US. Their policy is aimed at migrants who cross the border illegally and give birth in the US.
The recent Supreme Court decision Trump vs. CASA does not allow lower courts to grant injunctions applicable nationwide, but only within the judge’s jurisdiction. So if the US denies citizenship to the child of an un-documented immigrant in New York, that person can sue and win his citizenship in New York, but the decision may not apply in New Jersey. The US will be going back to the patchwork definition of citizenship that existed prior to the Civil War. This is a recipe for chaos and injustice, forcing migrants with established roots in one state that may deny citizenship to move to a state that allows it, or forgo citizenship entirely.
Source: The Nation, 6/27/25