America at its worst

“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. 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 14th Amendment

They hoped we weren’t paying attention.

While the country was watching fighter jets and debating troop deployments, while the administration’s shock-and-awe news cycle churned through one manufactured crisis after another, a quieter and far more dangerous move was playing out in plain sight.

On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship in the United States. Not through Congress. Not through the constitutional amendment process the framers required. Through the stroke of a pen.

This is one of the most brazen assaults on American democracy this administration has attempted. And it was designed to slip through the noise.

It must not — and will not.

The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, includes a citizenship clause that confers citizenship on anyone “born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” The amendment constitutionalized longstanding precedent rooted in English common law.

It was also a direct repudiation of the Dred Scott decision, which denied Black people the protections of U.S. citizenship. The amendment was the nation’s promise to itself that never again would the government decide that a person born on this soil was something less than American.

That promise is now under attack.

Trump has argued that the amendment “was meant for the slaves, for the children of slaves.” Let that land for a moment. The administration’s own framing acknowledges the 14th Amendment was written to protect Black people and then argues that its protections should be narrower than the text plainly states.

This is not a legal argument. It is a political ideology rooted in white supremacy, seeking to redefine who counts as American.

The assault on birthright citizenship is anti-Black not only in its history but in its logic. When you establish the principle that citizenship can be conditioned on the legal status of your parents, you create the infrastructure for a permanent underclass. You open the door to generations of people born in America, raised in America, who are American in every lived sense, but who can be told they do not belong.

If Trump’s order were allowed to stand, an estimated 2.7 million additional people would be unauthorized by 2045, and 5.4 million more by 2075. These are not abstractions. These are children. And disproportionately, they are children of color.

Advocates warn this risks creating a “permanent underclass” for some immigrant groups, reshaping the cultural and civic fabric of the country. Communities of color, already navigating the cumulative weight of structural inequality, would face an additional burden: proving their belonging in the only country they have ever known.

That is not America at its founding promise. That is America at its worst.

Every federal court that has considered a challenge to the executive order has struck it down. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week, and several justices appeared skeptical of the administration’s position. Chief Justice John Roberts noted that while times may change, the Constitution does not. A ruling is expected at the end of June or early July.

To the communities living under the shadow of this executive order, we see you. To the children whose citizenship should never have been in question, you are American, and we will defend that truth.

And to those in power who believe the noise of the moment will drown out accountability, it will not.

Marc Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League.

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