Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship Executive Order #14160
POLICY UPDATE Background Only 15% of countries worldwide have birthright citizenship, a law that grants citizenship to anyone born within the country's borders, regardless of their parents' citizenship or immigration status. The United States established birthright citizenship in 1868, when the 14th Amendment of the Constitution was ratified. Congress issued this amendment in the aftermath of the Civil War to ensure that essential civil rights were extended to formerly enslaved Black Americans. Since then, it has shaped a pathway to citizenship for millions of Americans. On President Trump’s first day in office, he issued Executive Order #14160, Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship, which ends birthright citizenship for children born to two undocumented immigrants and those in the country on tourist, work, or student visas. The order also prohibits federal departments and agencies from issuing any documentation recognizing US citizenship—or accepting documents issued by state, local, or other governmental authorities—from people on tourist, work, or student visas, as well as people born to two undocumented immigrants. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that more than 250,000 children will be born in the United States without citizenship annually due to this order, a phenomenon that has not occurred since the antebellum period.
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