First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Holding on Birthright Citizenship
Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order Is Unconstitutional
In the wake of the Civil War, our nation, in 1868, ratified the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment provides, in its first clause, that “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.” Nearly a century later, after a thorough review of our nationality laws, Congress passed Section 301(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), codified as 8 U.S. Code Section 1401(a). That measure similarly provides that “a person born in the United States, and subject to…
