© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
When the 14th Amendment was ratified in June of 1868, it marked a revolutionary shift in the United States’ understanding of citizenship and equality. Emerging from the ashes of the Civil War, the amendment sought to solidify the rights of millions of formerly enslaved African Americans and ensure a nation no longer bound by the institution of slavery. Today, that legacy is under threat after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on birthright citizenship, sparking a contentious debate over a cornerstone of American democracy.
The ratification of the 14th Amendment was born out of a need for clarity in the years following the Civil War. The 13th Amendment had abolished slavery in 1865, but it left unresolved critical questions about the rights of newly freed African Americans. Could they be citizens? Were they entitled to the same legal protections as other Americans?
These questions were particularly pressing in the face of southern states’ attempts to maintain white supremacy through the Black Codes — laws that restricted African Americans’ rights and forced them into exploitative labour arrangements. African Americans organised conventions across the South, petitioning Congress for equal rights and protesting the continued oppression they faced.
The urgency of the 14th Amendment was also a direct response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which declared that Black people, whether free or enslaved, could not be US citizens. Chief Justice Roger B Taney’s majority opinion stated that African Americans had “no rights which the white man was bound to respect.” This decision reinforced the institution of slavery and denied equal status to free Black Americans.
The 14th Amendment sought to rectify these injustices by enshrining birthright citizenship into the Constitution. The Citizenship Clause directly overturned Dred Scott, ensuring that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” It established the radical principle that citizenship could not be denied based on race, descent, or political affiliation. The Amendment stated: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
The debates surrounding the 14th Amendment were heated and deeply reflective of the racial and political tensions of the time. Many in the South resisted the Amendment, arguing that it would disrupt the racial hierarchy and undermine white supremacy. President Andrew Johnson declared that granting citizenship to formerly enslaved people would “Africanize” the country.
In the North too, the Amendment faced scepticism. Some feared it granted too much power to the federal government, while others worried it would provoke further animosity between the North and South. Despite these concerns, supporters of the Amendment understood its transformative potential.
Legal historian Kenneth Mack tells NPR in a 2024 interview, “It’s clear after the Civil War that the only way that African Americans will get basic rights in the former Confederacy is if there is some national constitutional right that applies everywhere and applies against the actions or the inactions of the states.”
When the Amendment was finally ratified in 1868, it not only guaranteed citizenship to formerly enslaved people but also redefined the nation’s commitment to equality. Cristina Rodríguez, Professor, Yale Law School, describes it as “our constitutional reset button,” a provision that fundamentally reshaped the American political landscape by creating the legal foundation for a multiracial democracy.
The 14th Amendment’s principle of birthright citizenship faced further tests as immigration patterns shifted in the late 19th century. In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that children born on American soil were citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Wong Kim Ark, the US-born child of Chinese immigrants, was denied re-entry to the United States after a visit to China due to anti-Chinese laws that barred naturalization.
The court’s decision affirmed the universality of birthright citizenship. Justice Horace Gray, writing for the majority, warned that to deny Wong citizenship would also strip the rights of “thousands of persons of English, Scotch, Irish, German or other European parentage, who have always been considered and treated as citizens of the United States.” The ruling cemented the idea that citizenship was tied to the place of birth, not the status of one’s parents.
Trump’s vow to dismantle birthright citizenship represents the most significant challenge to the 14th Amendment’s legacy in modern history. His proposed executive order would deny citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants and even some temporary residents, a move that would likely spark prolonged legal battles.
Critics of birthright citizenship argue that it incentivizes practices like birth tourism and thus serves as a magnet for illegal immigration. However, these claims overlook the broader historical and legal implications of revoking a right enshrined in the Constitution for more than 150 years.
As historian Martha Jones observes, the Amendment was “written in a way that gives it a lasting and enduring effect, which is to make every person, regardless of race, religion, or descent, born in the United States a citizen of the United States.”
Revoking birthright citizenship would have far-reaching consequences, increasing the number of unauthorised immigrants in the country and creating a new class of stateless individuals. According to the Migration Policy Institute, ending birthright citizenship would raise the number of unauthorized immigrants by 4.7 million by 2050, as the children of undocumented immigrants and their descendants lose their legal status.
According to the Pew Research Center, there are about 30 million immigrant workers in the US. Of these, as of 2022, 8.3 million are undocumented migrant workers, whereas 22.2 million are in the US on valid work permits. These 22.2 million authorised workers hold a variety of work visas.
The new executive order from Trump would affect all of them.
