Trump signs order revoking birthright US citizenship
Internationa desk: President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that seeks to withhold U.S. citizenship from the children of undocumented immigrants born in the United States.
Birthright citizenship is a right that the U.S. Constitution has guaranteed for more than 150 years. It means that someone born within the US or in the US territories is automatically a US citizen. It is currently protected by the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The executive order, which would apply to any babies born after February 19, is expected to be quickly challenged in court given that it would constitute an extraordinary departure from the historic interpretation of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
This action is likely to see immediate legal challenges.
Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship could leave an untold number of newborn babies in legal limbo while their undocumented parents, including newly postpartum women, are left to navigate a complicated new landscape that threatens their own deportation.
The Pew Research Center estimated that 1.3 million U.S.-born adults are children of unauthorized immigrants, according to 2022 data, the latest available.
