Views expressed in opinion columns are the author’s own.
On April 17, the Supreme Court announced it would review President Donald Trump’s pitch to end universal birthright citizenship in the United States. Trump signed an executive order that called for such a ban on his first day in office, challenging an unequivocal precedent that has survived the racist and xenophobic 19th and 20th centuries.
The last time birthright citizenship was contested — and ultimately upheld — was in 1898. Of all the questionable and malicious actions Trump’s administration has taken since Jan. 20, this could perhaps be the most anti-American.
Birthright has defined U.S. citizenship for more than a century, and it is in everyone’s best interest to protect it.
The Trump administration’s justification for abolishing birthright citizenship is to discourage birth tourism and illegal immigration. Trump claimed in January that the U.S. was “the only country in the world that does this,” which is false. As of 2025, more than 30 countries, including Canada and Mexico, offer unconditional birthright citizenship. Most countries that follow this policy are located in the Western Hemisphere, historically known as the “New World.” There is a reason for that.
Everyone in the United States, with the exception of the first Americans and Indigenous people, are immigrants or their descendants. The first English colonizers came to North America in the 17th century for better opportunities and religious freedom. Famine, religious persecution, political and economic unrest and other hardships drove European immigration into the early 20th century. Since 1965, about 72 million people have immigrated to the U.S. in search of opportunity and safety, with the majority coming from Latin America and Asia. The population of the country reflects the generational integration of each wave of immigrants.
Birthright citizenship has been instrumental in preventing immigrant children from becoming subclassed in their own birthplace. It allows them to, at least legally, integrate wholly into the country they were born and raised in. Despite unrelenting racism and xenophobia, the Fourteenth Amendment ensures that no one can legitimately challenge the citizenship of anyone born in the U.S.
Due to the recency of American settlement, the abolition of birthright citizenship could allow for anyone’s citizenship to be contested, either through their parents’ immigration status or their ancestors’.
Many of us can trace our ancestry back to another country — including Trump, who had a Scottish immigrant mother and German paternal grandparents. But considering Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained and questioned the citizenship of Indigenous people after the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, it seems foreign ancestry is not what they are combating.
Fortunately, it is unlikely Trump’s birthright citizenship order will come to fruition. Flagrantly defying the constitution is not easy, and the president does not have the authority to amend it. Amid his highly controversial proposition, Trump has been sued by 22 states and organizations like the ACLU to block the order from going into effect nationwide.
Entertaining this action would not only be unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment — it would undermine America’s social fabric and identity as a nation of immigrants.
As the daughter of Indian immigrants, if I had been born after an order to overturn birthright citizenship was recognized, I would not be a citizen, despite being born and spending my entire life in the U.S. And it’s not as if I would have become a citizen of my parents’ country either — I wasn’t born there. Abolishing birthright citizenship would leave many Americans stateless, whether it be legally, emotionally or both.
On a more positive note, the Trump administration has offered a new way to achieve U.S. citizenship. Instead of receiving it by birth or prolonged residence and contribution, those who want it badly enough can always write out a $5 million check to the White House. So thank you, Trump, for protecting the integrity of U.S. citizenship.
Anushka Shah is a sophomore government and politics major with a concentration in international relations. She can be reached at fromanushkashah@gmail.com.
