As the Supreme Court prepared to deliberate on the legality of President Donald Trump’s recent executive order regarding birthright citizenship, the former president inaccurately stated on Truth Social that the United States is the sole nation providing such a right. His executive order, signed on the inaugural day of his second term, aims to prevent citizenship for children born to individuals residing in the U.S. illegally or temporarily. Currently, lower court rulings have put this order on hold across the nation.
The current legal battle reaching the Supreme Court does not yet address the order’s constitutionality but rather questions whether individual judges have the authority to impose nationwide, or universal, injunctions. The administration is seeking an emergency review of the power held by these judges to issue such extensive rulings.
Despite Trump’s assertion on social media, numerous countries around the world offer birthright citizenship. Both the CIA World Factbook and the Library of Congress recognize approximately 30 nations, including the United States, that provide this right unconditionally. Birthright citizenship, known as jus soli or “right of the soil,” was notably included in the U.S. Constitution after the Civil War to affirm citizenship for previously enslaved individuals.
As pointed out by Ilya Somin, a constitutional law and migration rights expert at George Mason University, Trump’s claim is incorrect, as many nations incorporate some form of birthright citizenship, though specific rules may differ from the U.S. model. In the U.S., being born on American soil generally guarantees citizenship regardless of a parent’s immigration status, with few exceptions such as children of diplomats or enemy foreign occupiers.
Most nations offering unconditional birthright citizenship, like Canada and Mexico, are in the Americas with others located in Africa and Asia. Some countries impose conditions, requiring a parent’s legal status or other criteria for granting citizenship to those born within their borders.
The Citizenship Clause, the first sentence of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, underpins the U.S. policy of automatic citizenship, stating: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” This powerful amendment overturned the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, which had denied citizenship to Black individuals, whether enslaved or free. The Amendment was ratified in 1868 following its congressional passage shortly after the Civil War.
President Trump’s executive order contradicts the Supreme Court’s 1898 decision, which solidified that the Citizenship Clause grants citizenship to every child born on U.S. soil, with few and fringe exceptions. This case is only one among several immigration-related issues currently under the Supreme Court’s consideration.