On January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order trying to end birthright citizenship. Specifically, the order states that after February 19, 2025, citizenship will only be granted to babies born in the United States if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. The Legal Defense Fund, along with our partners, have filed a lawsuit in New Hampshire challenging the executive order and have secured a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from enforcing it. If implemented, however, the executive order could deny citizenship to U.S.-born children if neither of their parents has citizenship or permanent immigration status.
LDF answers frequently asked questions about the executive order’s implications and potential impacts.
Birthright citizenship stems from the principle of jus soli, that all children born in the United States are U.S. citizens. Birthright citizenship has remained a bedrock of our country, and was enshrined in our constitution in 1868 when the states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified to repudiate the infamous Dred Scott decision that denied Black people the protections of U.S. citizenship. In 1898, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that children born in the U.S. to immigrant parents were entitled to U.S. citizenship in the case United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
The executive order attempts to get rid of birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children of certain immigrants, born after February 19, 2025. Specifically, it says the federal government will no longer consider U.S.-born children to be citizens if neither parent has citizenship or permanent immigration status.
As a result of nationwide preliminary injunctions, the order is not currently in effect. However, as written, it applies to any child born in the United States after Feb. 19 whose parents do not have citizenship or permanent immigration status. This includes, but is not limited to, parents with the following immigration statuses:
Children born in the U.S. to at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident would acquire citizenship under the executive order, regardless of the other parent’s citizenship status.
The executive order states that it is to take effect after February 19, 2025. However, multiple lawsuits have been filed around the country. Because of the legal challenges, the executive order is currently blocked from taking effect.
Since President Trump issued the order, federal judges in multiple district courts have issued preliminary injunctions, which effectively stop the policy from being implemented until these legal cases come to a final decision. For example, on February 10, 2025, a federal judge in New Hampshire issued a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by the Legal Defense Fund, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of New Hampshire, the ACLU of Maine, the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Asian Law Caucus, and the State Democracy Defenders Fund on behalf of New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and Make the Road New York.
Federal judges in Washington, Maryland and Massachusetts have also issued preliminary injunctions, and challenges to these preliminary injunctions have been denied. Additional lawsuits challenging the executive order have been filed in California, New York and the District of Columbia.
For generations of families, birthright citizenship has represented the promise that their children can achieve their full potential as Americans and pursue their dreams. President Trump’s executive order will stigmatize and send a message of exclusion to many others who will have their citizenship questioned because of their race or who their parents are. Excluding people born here will create a permanent underclass of people who have never been to another country and may be rendered stateless.
Additionally, a child stripped of U.S. citizenship under this executive order would be denied their rights as a U.S. citizen. The child will not be able to obtain a Social Security card or U.S. passport. The child’s access to critical federal programs like CHIP, SNAP and Medicaid will be jeopardized. Unless they find another way to get immigration status as they grow up, they will be barred from voting, jury service and holding certain jobs.
If the order goes into effect, whether impacted children could get citizenship from their parents’ home country would depend on different factors, including, but not limited to, their parents’ immigration status, home country, and whether the U.S. has diplomatic relations with their parents’ home country. Without birthright citizenship, some children could be left stateless, without any home country.
Although Congress may try to change federal laws protecting birthright citizenship, birthright citizenship is also enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment. Any attempt to take it away would require changing or amending the U.S. Constitution. Changing the U.S. Constitution requires two thirds of both the House and the Senate. Additionally, 3/4 of the nation’s state legislatures would need to ratify any change.
If you believe that you will be directly impacted by the birthright citizenship executive order, and you are interested in learning more about how to get involved in the efforts to challenge this order, you can contact the Legal Defense Fund.
