A group of 216 Democratic lawmakers from the Senate and House have filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in defense of birthright citizenship, as oral arguments approach in the case Trump v. Barbara. The brief was led by U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), who serves as Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV).
The legislators argue that President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at removing citizenship rights for children born in the United States is unconstitutional and goes against longstanding Supreme Court decisions and congressional statutes.
According to the lawmakers, "The Fourteenth Amendment sets out a constitutional minimum—a floor—for birthright citizenship. At a minimum, birthright citizenship must extend to all ‘persons born…in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’ But the Fourteenth Amendment does not set out a ceiling. Congress is free to confer birthright citizenship more broadly, to people who do not have citizenship by virtue of the constitutional text."
They also warned about potential impacts on children of asylum seekers and stated that approximately 1.8 million U.S.-born citizens with two unauthorized parents could be at risk if their citizenship were retroactively revoked.
"This incoherence is all the more concerning because—should the Administration prevail in this litigation—millions of Americans will suddenly no longer be citizens. The Administration states that it intends to enforce its views only prospectively. But should the Court endorse the Administration’s interpretations, millions of Americans will simply no longer meet the constitutional and statutory criteria for citizenship. Statutory law will therefore bar them from voting, securing passports, and more. The Administration cannot change that by announcing that it will (for now) treat those erstwhile Americans as if they were citizens, giving them benefits the law forbids them to have," wrote the lawmakers.
In their conclusion, they criticized what they described as unilateral action by President Trump’s administration: "Beginning over thirty years ago, opponents of birthright citizenship have striven to change the law by constitutional means—the democratic process of introducing bills in Congress both to amend the INA, and to begin the process of constitutional amendment. Those efforts having failed, the President now seeks to attain his goals by unilateral executive fiat. Rather than trying to persuade Congress to exercise its authority to amend or repeal the INA, he seeks to evade that process with an unconstitutional power grab."
The full amicus brief can be accessed online.
The Senate Judiciary Committee plays a central role in shaping federal legislation related to civil rights and public safety through its legislative review and oversight functions (https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/). This standing committee is responsible for overseeing federal law enforcement agencies, evaluating judicial nominations, reviewing legislation affecting constitutional protections nationwide, and influencing judicial matters across federal courts (https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/). The committee includes members from both major parties under leadership designated by a chairperson based in Washington D.C., reflecting its significant impact on national legal policy (https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/).
