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An American Promise Worth Protecting
Former congressional candidate argues birthright citizenship upholds America's constitutional promise.
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Bhavini Patel - Sat, 25, Jul 2026
- 06:48 EDT
- 13
Bhavini Patel argues that birthright citizenship remains a cornerstone of America's constitutional identity. / Unsplash
"America has always been a nation of paradoxes. We have struggled to live up to our highest ideals even as those ideals have inspired generations seeking freedom, opportunity, and belonging. Our history also reveals something remarkable: when we return to the principles embedded in our Constitution, we often find our way forward.
Birthright citizenship is one of those principles.
The promise of birthright citizenship emerged from one of the defining moments in American constitutional history. Ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment overturned the injustice of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court's 1857 decision that denied citizenship to people of African descent.
Also read: Can values be taught?
In response, the Citizenship Clause established a simple but enduring principle: those born in the United States are citizens. This constitutional guarantee was designed to ensure that citizenship would not be determined by race or inherited status, but by birth under the Constitution and the equal protection of the law. That principle has helped shape an America where citizenship rests not on ancestry, ethnicity, or religion, but on our shared commitment to constitutional values.
That commitment has endured for more than 150 years.
Recently, President Donald Trump's effort to overturn birthright citizenship through executive action was defeated when the Supreme Court rejected that attempt, reaffirming constitutional precedent. This decision recognized that the Constitution cannot be rewritten by executive order and that some of America's foundational commitments deserve protection regardless of political winds.
Reasonable people can and do disagree about immigration policy. Americans should have vigorous debates about border security, visa systems, asylum, and the challenges of managing immigration in the twenty-first century. Those debates are both necessary and healthy in a democracy.
However, birthright citizenship occupies a different place in our constitutional order.
It asks a fundamental question: What makes someone an American?
For nearly a century and a half, our answer has been rooted in constitutional principle. That answer has made the United States exceptional. America has continually renewed itself through the belief that people from different backgrounds can become one people under a shared Constitution.
That is the essence of pluralism.
Pluralism does not require us to erase our differences. It asks us to recognize that our differences exist within a larger civic identity. Americans come from every continent, every language, every faith tradition, and every culture. Our diversity is not a weakness to overcome; it is one of the defining strengths of our country when united by common values. Those values include the rule of law, equal protection, democratic participation, individual liberty, and mutual responsibility.
Citizenship is a legal status, but it is also a gift and a responsibility.
As America celebrates its 250th birthday, our greatest act of patriotism is honoring our past, and safeguarding the constitutional promises that have allowed generations of Americans, including my own family, to call this nation home. Birthright citizenship is one of those promises. It reminds us that America is at its best when we unite around the Constitution, the rule of law, and our shared responsibility to leave this republic stronger than we found it."
(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of New India Abroad.)
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