Attempted to End Birthright Citizenship by Executive Order
Trump signed an executive order attempting to strip citizenship from babies born on U.S. soil — directly contradicting the 14th Amendment and 130+ years of Supreme Court precedent. Federal courts unanimously blocked it.
On January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship for children born on U.S. soil to parents without citizenship or permanent residency. The order directly contradicted the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States."
The principle of birthright citizenship has been settled constitutional law since the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) — over 130 years of unbroken precedent.
The order was immediately challenged in court by the ACLU, NAACP, and numerous other organizations. Federal judges unanimously blocked it, with one judge calling it "blatantly unconstitutional." No president has ever successfully overridden a constitutional amendment by executive order.
The case is expected to reach the Supreme Court in April 2026. Regardless of the legal outcome, the attempt to strip citizenship from children born on American soil represents one of the most direct attacks on constitutional rights in modern presidential history.