The Citizenship Fight

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On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order challenging birthright citizenship — the principle that any child born on US soil is automatically an American citizen, embedded in the Fourteenth Amendment since 1868. The case is now before the Supreme Court.

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The Fourteenth Amendment reads: all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens. Trump's order argues that children of undocumented immigrants are not subject to that jurisdiction — a reading no court has ever upheld and which constitutional scholars broadly reject.

[scene.title kind=chapter eyebrow="Clio Short" title="The Citizenship Fight" subtitle="Fourteenth Amendment on Trial"]
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Lower courts blocked the order immediately. Twenty-two states sued. The case reached the Supreme Court on an emergency basis — and the 6-3 conservative majority that sided with Trump on twenty of twenty-four emergency cases in 2025 will issue a ruling by June 2026. A ruling against birthright citizenship would be the most significant constitutional change in over a century.

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Meanwhile, a federal appeals court in April rejected mandatory detention for long-term residents, and the administration's emergency deportation flights to third countries face ongoing legal challenges. The administration is losing individual battles in the courts while waiting for the Supreme Court to redraw the map.

[scene.title kind=outro title="The Citizenship Fight" subtitle="Follow Clio for more."]