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A racially diverse group of children saying the Pledge of Allegiance while one holds an American flag.

Who Gets to Be an American?

Since the earliest days of the Republic, American citizenship has been contested, subject to the anti-democratic impulses of racism, suspicion, and paranoia.
Flags of Native American tribes at Omaha Beach memorial.

No, Native American Citizenship Does Not Support Limits on Birthright Citizenship

This defense misconstrues both the Constitution and the Supreme Court decisions relying on it.
New citizens swearing an oath to the US at a naturalization ceremony.

The Forgotten Meaning of the Citizenship Clause

Universal birthright citizenship was never the original intent.
Senator John Conness.

This Dead California Senator Can Save Birthright Citizenship

In the 19th century, John Conness defended the 14th Amendment and shut down proto-Trumpians.
A crib drawn with Stars and Stripes symbolism.

Birthright Citizenship Is a Sacred Guarantee

The attack on it is a violation of the nation’s post–Civil War rebirth.
A collage of the United States Constitution, seal, and a hand holding two small American flags.

The Attack on Birthright Citizenship Is a Big Test for the Constitution

Does the text mean what it plainly says?
Newborn babies sleeping in a maternity ward.

The Coming Assault on Birthright Citizenship

The Constitution is absolutely clear on this point, but will that matter?
Birthright citizenship form, with infant footprints stamped in black ink, on fire.

The Plot Against Birthright Citizenship

The incoming Trump administration wants to take away citizenship for the US-born children of undocumented immigrants. Here’s how.
A mobile of the American flag's stars and bars hanging over a cradle.

Why Republicans Keep Calling for the End of Birthright Citizenship

It’s about more than immigration.
Wong Kim Ark in a photograph from a federal immigration investigation case conducted under the Chinese Exclusion Acts.
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Everyone Born in the United States is a U.S. Citizen. Here’s Why.

From birthright freedom to birthright citizenship.
Wong Kim Ark's departure statement overlayed with his portrait.

How the Fight for Birthright Citizenship Shaped the History of Asian American Families

Even after Wong Kim Ark successfully took his case to the Supreme Court 125 years ago, Asian Americans struggled to receive recognition as U.S. citizens.
Sketch of a gathering of African Americans gathering in a meetinghouse.

“Nativity Gives Citizenship”: Teaching Antislavery Constitutionalism Through Black Conventions

The demand of antislavery activists for accused fugitives to be guaranteed a jury trial was an implicit recognition of Black citizenship.
Statue of Dred Scott and wife

Allegiance, Birthright, and Race in America

What the Dred Scott v. Sandford case meant for black citizenship.
The Amistad slave ship

Birthright Citizenship, Slave Trade Legislation, and the Origins of Federal Immigration Regulation

Opponents of birthright citizenship say there weren't any “illegal aliens” when the 14th Amendment was drafted. They're wrong.
Freed slaves Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa, New Orleans, 1864.

The Origins of Birthright Citizenship

The Fourteenth Amendment captures the idea that no people born in the United States should be forced to live in the shadows.

The Real Origins of Birthright Citizenship

Its purpose 150 years ago was to incorporate former slaves into the nation.

Can Trump Really End Birthright Citizenship?

Not directly. But it's more complicated than you think.

Citizens: 150 Years of the 14th Amendment

In 1868, black activists had already been promoting birthright as the basis of their national belonging for nearly half a century.
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The 14th Amendment Solved One Citizenship Crisis, But It Created A New One

How birthright citizenship became a barrier for undocumented immigrants.

Donald Trump Meet Wong Kim Ark

He was the Chinese-American cook who became the father of ‘birthright citizenship.’
4 photographs of Josie Rudolph Thurnauer through the years 1874-1938.

Josie’s Story: From 19th-Century Sitka To Her Escape From The Holocaust

Josie Rudolph’s life, in an era of worldwide migration and colonial ambition, offers a new perspective on the familiar tale of modern Alaska’s birth.
U.S. Capitol building

Searching for the Perfect Republic

On the 14th amendment – and if it might stop Trump.
Black and white photo of the “Star-Spangled Banner” flown during the War of 1812, 1914.

A Fiery Gospel

A conversation about changing the American story.
Photo of the Supreme Court Building

The Supreme Court Gets a Chance to Revisit America’s Imperialist Past

A trio of American Samoan plaintiffs are asking the high court to end their status as second-class citizens.

Appalachian Whiteness: A History that Never Existed

The “fetishization” of Appalachia’s supposed racial and ethnic purity and Trump's proposal to end birthright citizenship.
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It’s Time to Fulfill the Promise of Citizenship

The rights we save may be our own.

Citizenship Shouldn't Be a Birthright

Guaranteeing citizen status simply for being born here is a deliberate misreading of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Citizens to Come: Building Beyond the 14th Amendment

Commemoration of the 14th Amendment must not display the abundance of freedom, but the hunger for it on both sides of the border.
Pat Buchanan surrounded by balloons at a campaign rally.

Trumpism Before Trump

The popular Trump rhetoric of demonizing immigrants has been procured for decades.
Football players with raised fists.
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Trump Said Protesting NFL Players ‘Shouldn’t Be In This Country’

We should take him seriously. Black Americans have been threatened with deportation before and it never ends well.

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