Glossary

Birthright citizenship

The rule, based on the Fourteenth Amendment, that nearly everyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen, regardless of their parents' status.

Also called: jus soli, Fourteenth Amendment citizenship clause, anchor baby

Birthright citizenship is the principle that a person born within a country's territory is a citizen. In the United States it rests on the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868): "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."

The Supreme Court held in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) that a man born in San Francisco to Chinese parents who were not citizens was a citizen. The phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" excludes children of foreign diplomats and of hostile occupying forces, and children born to members of some Native American tribes were later covered by statute. The rule applies to children of lawful visitors and of unauthorized immigrants.

Critics, including some conservatives, argue that the clause was not meant to cover children of people who are in the country illegally or temporarily, and that it encourages unlawful migration; some propose changing it by statute or amendment, and the Trump administration issued an executive order in January 2025 seeking to deny citizenship to certain children, which courts blocked, leading to Supreme Court litigation over remedies. See also naturalization and chain migration and DACA.

Last reviewed November 8, 2026

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Related terms

Naturalization The legal process by which a lawful permanent resident becomes a U.S. citizen, involving tests, an interview and an oath. Chain migration A critics' term for family-based immigration, in which citizens and residents sponsor relatives, who may later sponsor others. DACA A 2012 policy that shields certain people brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and grants work permits, renewed every two years. Green card The document showing lawful permanent resident status, which lets a noncitizen live and work in the U.S. indefinitely and later apply for citizenship. Equal Protection Clause The Fourteenth Amendment guarantee that no state may deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.