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Rep. Krishnamoorthi urges Supreme Court to protect birthright citizenship
Krishnamoorthi said Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship “is not only unconstitutional—it strikes at the values that have guided us since the Civil War.”
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Malvika Choudhary - Mon, 08, Dec 2025
- 11:59 EST
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Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi / DNC
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reaffirm the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship after the justices agreed to hear President Donald Trump’s challenge to the 14th Amendment.
In a statement, Krishnamoorthi said Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship “is not only unconstitutional — it strikes at the values that have guided us since the Civil War.”
Also Read: Supreme Court to decide legality of Trump move to limit birthright citizenship
He said courts have long interpreted the amendment to mean that “every child born on American soil arrives with an equal claim to the rights of citizenship,” and warned that children’s futures “should not hinge on shifting politics or prejudice.”
He added that “no president can override that constitutional promise,” calling on the Court to “reaffirm what the Constitution makes unmistakably clear: citizenship belongs to every child born in the United States.”
Krishnamoorthi, who previously served on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, has spoken out consistently against efforts to narrow the scope of birthright citizenship. He opposed similar proposals during Trump’s first term in 2018, arguing that the 14th Amendment cannot be changed through executive action.
The Supreme Court on Dec. 5 agreed to hear a class-action challenge to Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order — issued on his first day of his second term — directing federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children born in the United States if neither parent is an American citizen nor a legal permanent resident.
Several federal courts blocked the directive as unconstitutional, ruling that it violated both the 14th Amendment and federal statutes codifying birthright citizenship. The Justice Department appealed, placing the question before the justices.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments during its current term and issue a ruling by the end of June. The Court has not set a date for the arguments.
Birthright citizenship has been protected under the 14th Amendment since 1868 and upheld repeatedly, most notably in the 1898 decision United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which affirmed that nearly all children born on American soil are citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
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