On April 1, 2026, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that considers the constitutionality of birthright citizenship. Rutgers–Camden historian Carly Goodman joined WHYY’s Studio 2 for a lively discussion of the history of birthright citizenship, in anticipation of the arguments, along with Anil Kalhan, professor of law at Drexel University.
Goodman spoke about the 19th century origins of birthright citizenship, which is enshrined in the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, after the Civil War. Among the precipitating events of the war was the infamous 1857 Supreme Court decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford, in which Justice Roger Taney opined that African Americans could not be U.S. citizens and that they “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”
The Civil War (1861-1865) became a war for emancipation of enslaved people, with President Abraham Lincoln declaring at Gettysburg that the nation would “have a new birth of freedom,” that the fallen soldiers would not have died in vain. Cementing birthright citizenship in the Constitution after the war was essential for upholding that freedom.
Three decades later, in 1898, the Supreme Court affirmed that birthright citizenship was the law of the land in the case of Wong Kim Ark, a U.S. citizen who was returning to the United States after visiting China. At the time, the United States excluded Chinese immigrants and declared that people of Chinese descent were ineligible to naturalize as citizens, and so immigration officials tried to bar Wong Kim Ark from entering the country. But, as the Supreme Court upheld, he was a citizen by birth and could not be excluded on the basis of his race.
Over the next century, children born to immigrants have been recognized as citizens of the United States, which has been a critical channel for expanding access to rights and citizenship. In recent years, President Donald Trump has argued that the children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants should be denied birthright citizenship. This effort comes in an age when the United States has adopted principles of formal equality in the admission of immigrants and has welcomed immigrants from all over the world.
Goodman’s book, Dreamland: America’s Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction, discusses the benefits to the United States of welcoming immigrants from Africa and other countries into our communities. Birthright citizenship remains a critical tool for expanding equality and allowing democracy to function.
Listen/watch the discussion here:
https://whyy.org/episodes/supreme-court-citizenship-birthright/
