{"id":590,"date":"2026-06-25T10:43:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590"},"modified":"2026-06-25T10:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:43:13","slug":"on-the-eve-of-america-250-scotus-may-redefine-who-belongs-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590","title":{"rendered":"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As the end of the month approaches, the Supreme Court is staring down one of its most consequential rulings in recent years: the birthright citizenship case.<\/p>\n

Read more Cornyn, Crockett remain top skeptics of their party\u2019s Senate nominees after primary losses<\/a><\/p>\n

Formally listed on the docket as Trump v. Barbara, the Supreme Court case questions whether President Donald Trump\u2019s 2025 executive order denying birthright citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants is in agreement with the 14th Amendment. The justices heard oral argument on April 1 in a two-hour hearing, and the ruling, expected at the end of the month or the very beginning of July, runs the risk of reshaping the very concept of what the U.S. has come to stand for, just days ahead of the 250th anniversary of its founding.<\/p>\n

It goes without saying that this case challenges the bedrock of what it means to be an American. Never mind the looming questions of how far the systemic disinheritance of children of any recent immigrants could go should the court rule in favor of Trump, or even how far back is too far when seeking to dispossess people of citizenship in a land chock-full of people who aren\u2019t exactly native to it.<\/p>\n

As UCLA School of Law professor Hiroshi Motomura told Salon ahead of Trump\u2019s inauguration in 2024, the challenge to birthright citizenship \u201cis quite a bit more of a rethinking of what the country is even about.\u201d It upends how the nation has historically seen itself \u2014 as a country of immigrants \u2014 and threatens to undermine the racial history of the U.S. that undergirds it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is why this is so bedrock compared to other things that the Supreme Court is sometimes characterized for doing as being quite radical,\u201d Motomura, also a faculty co-director of Mi\u00f1ana Family Center for Immigration Law and Policy, said at the time. \u201cThis goes way beyond overruling Roe v. Wade. I think that was a radical move, but this is no comparison.\u201d<\/p>\n

On President Trump\u2019s first day of his second term, he signed an executive order, \u201cProtecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,\u201d that proclaimed that individuals born in the U.S. did not automatically receive citizenship if their parents\u2019 legal status is insufficient, as in their visa is temporary or they\u2019re undocumented. It instructed federal agencies against recognizing citizenship claims of a child born after Feb. 20, 2025, under two circumstances: \u201c(1) when that person\u2019s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person\u2019s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person\u2019s birth, or (2) when that person\u2019s mother\u2019s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person\u2019s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person\u2019s birth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s important to note that the promise of America has only ever been accessible to certain demographics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The order claims that the 14th Amendment\u2019s citizenship clause had never been interpreted to grant birthright citizenship to such children because they are not \u201csubject to the jurisdiction\u201d of the U.S. as described in the amendment. Before the Supreme Court, counsel for the Trump administration further that such language refers to \u201cowing direct and immediate allegiance\u201d to the country.<\/p>\n

Three families challenged the executive order on behalf of themselves and others in their positions in federal court, arguing that it unlawfully strips their children of citizenship under the 14th Amendment and U.S. law. Last July, a U.S. District Court judge for the District of New Hampshire blocked the order from taking effect pending litigation and provisionally certified a nationwide class of children who the order would affect.<\/p>\n

Read more \u201cHe really doesn\u2019t care\u201d: Warren slams Trump\u2019s decision to hold up affordable housing bill<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that the promise of America has only ever been accessible to certain demographics. Even those whose families migrated here seeking a \u201cbetter life\u201d can speak to how uneven the American dream materializes across class, race and country of origin. But amendments like the 14th, as well as prior Supreme Court decisions, have worked to expand the Constitution\u2019s reach should the executive branch seek to enforce them.<\/p>\n

Alongside its sister provisions \u2014 the 13th and 15th Amendments \u2014 passed in the wake of the Civil War, the 14th Amendment served to (theoretically) confer upon newly freed African Americans equal rights and protections under the Constitution of the only homeland many of them had known, been born in and toiled in for generations. The entire point was to legally establish who was once three-fifths human as a whole and fully recognized American citizen.<\/p>\n

In 1898, the Supreme Court further clarified the intention of the 14th Amendment in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark. The case revolved around Ark, a San Francisco-born child of Chinese immigrants who had lived in the U.S. for 20 years but were denied citizenship under The Chinese Exclusion Act. The justices ruled 6-2 that the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment automatically rendered him a citizen because he was born in the U.S., establishing the concept of \u201cjus soli,\u201d the citizenship of children born in the country to non-citizens.<\/p>\n

During oral argument in April, even some of the conservative justices questioned Solicitor Gen. John Sauer\u2019s argument against birthright citizenship.<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Marshall Harlan, the great dissenter, who dissented in Wong Kim Ark and later gave a bunch of lectures, he posed the question about the sojourners,\u201d Justice Neil Gorsuch said. \u201c\u2018Suppose an English father and mother went down to the hot springs to get rid of the gout, and while there, they have a child, now back in England. Is that child a citizen of the United States born of the jurisdiction thereof by mere accident of birth?\u2019 And he says, \u2018Under Wong Kim Ark, he is.\u2019 And he continues, \u2018I was one of the minority, and, of course, I was wrong.\u2019 Now, I\u2019m sure that was tongue-in-cheek, but what do you do with that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Though legal experts warn against predicting a ruling based on the court\u2019s questioning at oral argument, the majority of justices\u2019 apparent skepticism, at least, reads as a positive sign.<\/p>\n

Over the decades, as the U.S. has grappled with and accepted its racial and ethnic diversity, schools first taught children that America was a \u201cmelting pot.\u201d Then they taught America is a salad bowl, not a gummy admixture of everyone from everywhere, but rather a heterogeneous blend of colors, cultures and histories that come together to make the nation better than what it has been. The 14th Amendment is part of what made such visions \u2014 however idealistic \u2014 possible.<\/p>\n

The president can\u2019t unilaterally take that away, and the Supreme Court, especially if keeping with longstanding interpretations of the founding document, shouldn\u2019t either.<\/p>\n

Read more Scottish men have already won the World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a decision on birthright citizenship looming, SCOTUS could undermine the entire concept of the nation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":589,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[325,208,8,5,147,729,14],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-america-250","tag-analysis","tag-birthright-citizenship","tag-donald-trump","tag-immigration","tag-scotus","tag-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\nOn the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here - Relocation Across America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With a decision on birthright citizenship looming, SCOTUS could undermine the entire concept of the nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-25T10:43:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T10:43:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590\"},\"wordCount\":1177,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2016c0c208889f9a4a0c3abe9fe7cce4.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"America 250\",\"Analysis\",\"Birthright Citizenship\",\"Donald Trump\",\"Immigration\",\"SCOTUS\",\"Supreme Court\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590\",\"name\":\"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here - Relocation Across America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2016c0c208889f9a4a0c3abe9fe7cce4.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T10:43:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2016c0c208889f9a4a0c3abe9fe7cce4.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2016c0c208889f9a4a0c3abe9fe7cce4.jpg\",\"width\":1692,\"height\":1142,\"caption\":\"WASHINTON, DC - UNITED STATES - APRIL 01: Demonstrators rally in support of birthright citizenship outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 1, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump attended as the court heard a landmark case on the constitutionality of his effort to end birthright citizenship. (Photo by Mehmet Eser\\\/Anadolu via Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=590#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Across America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here - Relocation Across America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here - Relocation Across America","og_description":"With a decision on birthright citizenship looming, SCOTUS could undermine the entire concept of the nation","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590","og_site_name":"Relocation Across America","article_published_time":"2026-06-25T10:43:13+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf"},"headline":"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here","datePublished":"2026-06-25T10:43:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590"},"wordCount":1177,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2016c0c208889f9a4a0c3abe9fe7cce4.jpg","keywords":["America 250","Analysis","Birthright Citizenship","Donald Trump","Immigration","SCOTUS","Supreme Court"],"articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590","url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590","name":"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here - Relocation Across America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2016c0c208889f9a4a0c3abe9fe7cce4.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-25T10:43:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2016c0c208889f9a4a0c3abe9fe7cce4.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2016c0c208889f9a4a0c3abe9fe7cce4.jpg","width":1692,"height":1142,"caption":"WASHINTON, DC - UNITED STATES - APRIL 01: Demonstrators rally in support of birthright citizenship outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 1, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump attended as the court heard a landmark case on the constitutionality of his effort to end birthright citizenship. (Photo by Mehmet Eser\/Anadolu via Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=590#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"On the eve of America 250, SCOTUS may redefine who belongs here"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/","name":"Relocation Across America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}