Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) proposed an amendment on Thursday to “protect United States citizenship” and end birthright citizenship automatically granted to citizens born in the country as stipulated in the 14th Amendment.
“A person born in the United States may only be considered ‘subject to the jurisdiction of the United States’ if the person is born in the United States of parents, one of whom is — 1) a citizen or national of the United States; 2) an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States whose residence is in the United States; or 3) an alien with lawful status under the immigration laws performing active service in the Armed Forces,” read Paul’s proposed amendment.
“Congress shall have the power to carry out this article through appropriate legislation,” it noted.
Paul’s proposal comes after an executive order by President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office of his second term, January 20, 2025. In Trump’s order, “Protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship,” the president claimed that birthright citizenship in the U.S. through the 14th Amendment should not include children who were born in the U.S. but to parents who are in the country illegally or on a visa. The directive is being challenged in the Supreme Court. Oral arguments for the case began in April.
In announcing his proposed amendment, Paul agreed with Trump that such children should not be considered natural citizens of the U.S., nor was it the intention of “those who wrote the 14th Amendment.”
“Under current interpretations of American law, anyone born on American soil automatically becomes a U.S. citizen, regardless of whether the parent was here legally or not,” Paul said in a press release issued by his office. “This is wrong and not at all the intent of those who wrote the 14th Amendment.”
The 14th Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868, in response to the U.S. Civil War. It codified in the Constitution that rights and liberties enshrined in the Constitution also applied to former slaves, including U.S. citizenship.
“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,” reads the first section of the 14th Amendment. “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.”
Contemporary concerns regarding the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment concern illegal immigrants in the country and their children who were born here. Paul expressed support for “immigrants and legal immigration,” he emphasized that only children who were born to legal residents of the U.S. should be automatically considered citizens of the country.
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“We are a country filled with immigrants, and legal immigration is valuable and should be protected,” Paul said. “But we are also a country whose borders have been too open and our generosity exploited too often. President Trump has moved to seal our border from illegal immigrants more than any other president. But we will have more to do. We need to make sure that only children born to legal residents of the U.S. are automatically citizens.”
“I have supported protecting birthright citizenship from abuse since the beginning of my tenure in the Senate, when I cosponsored the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011, and now I am proposing an amendment to protect United States citizenship in case the Supreme Court fails to address this issue correctly,” he said.