- Donald Trump criticized birthright citizenship as intended for slaves' children, not wealthy foreigners
- Trump claimed birthright citizenship laws date back to the Civil War's end and the 14th Amendment
- The US Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 1 about Trump's birthright citizenship executive order
US President Donald Trump launched a sharp attack on birthright citizenship early on Monday morning, arguing that the constitutional provision was intended for the "BABIES OF SLAVES" rather than for children of wealthy foreigners seeking US citizenship through payment.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote: "Birthright Citizenship is not about rich people from China, and the rest of the World, who want their children, and hundreds of thousands more, FOR PAY, to ridiculously become citizens of the United States of America. It is about the BABIES OF SLAVES!"
He continued: "We are the only Country in the World that dignifies this subject with even discussion. Look at the dates of this long ago legislation - THE EXACT END OF THE CIVIL WAR! The World is getting rich selling citizenships to our Country, while at the same time laughing at how STUPID our U.S. Court System has become (TARIFFS!). 'Dumb Judges and Justices will not a great Country make!'"
The remarks came as the US Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments on April 1 in the case of Trump v. Barbara, which challenges the Trump administration's executive order restricting birthright citizenship.
The Civil War ended in 1865. Birthright citizenship stems from the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. That amendment guaranteed certain rights for African Americans after the war. It rectified the 1857 Dred Scott decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the US Constitution did not extend citizenship to people of African descent.
The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment states: "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."
On his first day in office in January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that removed recognition of automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are present illegally or on temporary visas.
The order was not retroactive and was scheduled to take effect on February 19, 2025.The administration argued that individuals in the United States illegally or on temporary visas are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the country.
It also contended that the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in the wake of the Civil War to address the rights of former slaves and does not extend to children of undocumented migrants or temporary visitors.
