Balkinization  

Sunday, February 15, 2026

Birthright Citizenship: Remember the INA

Jason Mazzone

With all of the attention on the Fourteenth Amendment issue in Trump v. Barbara, don't forget that the case also presents the question of whether the President's executive order violates the provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a), making "citizens of the United States at birth" any "person born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof," such that the order is invalid (also) on grounds of separation of powers. On that issue, the Solicitor General's brief argues that in 1940 (when the statutory language was first adopted) and again in 1952 (when it was re-adopted in the Act), Congress intended to incorporate whatever the true meaning of section one of the Fourteenth Amendment is, regardless of what anyone thought section one meant in 1940 or 1952. In a recent essay, Vik Amar and I explain why the SG is wrong and why, apart from the straight-up problem of section one, the Immigration and Nationality Act requires invalidation of the President's order. 


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