Document Type
Article
Abstract
This Recent Case Note analyzes the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Barbara upholding longstanding definitions of constitutional birthright citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship established a constitutional foundation for American citizenship. An executive order issued by President Trump in 2025 attempted to rewrite the concept of birthright citizenship to exclude from citizenship the children born to foreign individuals temporarily or unlawfully present in the United States. The Court struck down this order as unconstitutional and affirmed the Fourteenth Amendment’s universal grant of citizenship to children born in the United States, with no consideration for the status of a child’s parents absent specific exceptions created by federal statute. The Court based its decision on the historical circumstances surrounding the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, specifically that the amendment was adopted to reject the notion that African Americans were not citizens even though they were born and lived in the United States. By striking down the Executive Order, the Court reaffirmed the universalist principle of citizenship that a person born in the United States is an American citizen absent specific exceptions.
Recommended Citation
Julius R. Fout, Recent Case: Citizenship - Trump v.Barbara, 18 ConLawNOW 245 (2026)