Supreme Court

Trump's Unconstitutional Attack on Birthright Citizenship Finally Reaches the Supreme Court

Understanding the stakes in Trump v. Barbara.

Damon Root | 3.31.2026 7:00 AM

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A decade ago, I wrote a cover story for Reason magazine titled "Trump vs. the Constitution." It explained how then-candidate Donald Trump's call to abolish the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship for millions of U.S.-born children ran afoul of the text, history, and original meaning of the 14th Amendment. It also noted the dismaying fact that so many Republicans appeared ready to support Trump's unconstitutional agenda.

"Most Republicans claim to revere the Constitution," I wrote. "Yet when it comes to the issue of birthright citizenship, far too many Republicans, from Ed Meese on down to Donald Trump, seem willing to ignore the text and history of the 14th Amendment. Not exactly a reassuring indication of the GOP's fidelity to originalist constitutional principles."

Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, the case arising from Trump's 2025 executive order on birthright citizenship. And just as I warned a decade ago, the Republican Party is effectively marching in lockstep under Trump's unlawful direction.

But what about the self-professed originalists who currently sit on the Supreme Court? Will those Republican-appointed justices now side with Trump, too?

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If they do, it will only be because they have decided to ignore the overwhelming originalist evidence that refutes Trump's case.

Start with the constitutional text. According to the 14th Amendment, "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." That language was drafted in 1866 and ratified in 1868. How was it originally understood?

The 1865 edition of Noah Webster's popular An American Dictionary of the English........

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