US President Donald Trump has ignited controversy by claiming that the 14th Amendment’s right to American citizenship was intended solely for former slaves, not modern-day “gate-crashers” or illegal immigrants.
Trump’s statement, posted on Truth Social, asserts that the founding fathers would be dismayed by the idea of the country being taken away from its people.
Historical context, however, suggests that the 14th Amendment was indeed primarily aimed at securing rights for newly freed slaves after the Civil War.
The amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” was a direct response to the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision, which denied citizenship to African Americans.
Despite Trump’s claims, the amendment’s language does not explicitly exclude children born to undocumented immigrants.
In fact, the Supreme Court’s 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark established that birth on US soil generally confers citizenship, regardless of parental nationality.
Recently, Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship for children of parents in the US illegally.
However, this order has been blocked by federal judges in Boston, New Hampshire, Seattle, and Maryland, citing constitutional concerns.