In 2018, the Trump administration submitted a legal brief to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that birth on U.S. soil alone is not a sufficient basis for citizenship. The filing was part of the case Department of Commerce v. New York, concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census.
The Justice Department's brief stated that the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship, derived from the 14th Amendment, does not apply to the children of certain non-citizens. This legal position was not a new policy but an argument in a specific court case. It immediately drew criticism from legal scholars and immigrant rights advocates who viewed it as a challenge to long-standing interpretation.
The Supreme Court ultimately ruled on the census question in 2019, blocking its addition. The court's decision did not address or rule on the birthright citizenship arguments presented in the administration's brief. The 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause, which states "all persons born or naturalized in the United States... are citizens," remains the governing law.
The administration's argument, while not enacted into policy, raised significant concerns among immigrant communities, including Indian nationals in the U.S. on temporary visas, about the potential future of their U.S.-born children's citizenship status.
