Is birthright citizenship on the chopping block? Well...it's complicated. But one thing is clear: our 127-year-old understanding of what American citizenship means could soon be completely shattered. 

On Friday, the Supreme Court justices agreed to review the legal principle of “birthright citizenship.”

An order, signed on January 20, 2025, targets children born to undocumented immigrants, tourists, or temporary visa holders like students and workers. 

The administration has posed the argument that the 14th Amendment's clause—"all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof"—doesn't cover those specific groups of people, claiming it was meant only for freed slaves post-Civil War. 

The lower courts quickly fought back, citing the Constitution and a 1898 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that affirmed birthright for U.S.-born kids of non-citizens. 

Federal judges issued injunctions blocking enforcement nationwide, though earlier this year the high court limited those blocks.​

For young people from mixed-status families, the stakes are incredibly high. 

“No president can change the 14th Amendment’s fundamental promise of citizenship,” Cecillia Wang, the ACLU’s national legal director, said in a statement shared by The Guardian. “For over 150 years, it has been the law and our national tradition that everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen from birth.” 

Wang also claims that this order is, “contrary to the constitution, a supreme court decision from 1898, and a law enacted by Congress. We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term.”

Many groups and advocates have warned that a win for the order could force parents, including actual U.S. citizens, to prove immigration papers just for a baby's birth certificate or Social Security number. This would heighten racial profiling by name, looks, and accent.

Oral arguments come early 2026, with a ruling by June that could rewrite a core ideology of what the United States stands for.

The Guardian also pointed out that the U.S. is among roughly 30 countries that grant automatic citizenship to nearly all people born on their soil.