Citizenship

protecting the meaning & value of american citizenship

In Washington v. Trump (Western District of Washington case no.: 2:25-cv-00127), Silent Majority Foundation joined an amicus brief filed by 18 States, including: Iowa, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming in support of President Trump’s Executive Order Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship. The crux of the brief is that the Plaintiffs take an expansive reading of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which reads “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.”  

SMF signed on to this amicus brief as the Citizenship Clause is not clearly defined, it is not a settled matter, and this is an opportunity to seek the court’s review of an important Constitutional issue. Last month (January 2025), a federal judge in Virginia observed “just how unsettled the term ‘subject to the jurisdiction of the United States’ remains.’” (United States v. Pahlawan, 2025 WL 27779, at *6 (E.D. Va. Jan. 3, 2025)). This is an opportunity to have that matter settled.  

The brief seeks clarification of the Citizenship Clause by addressing its history and discussing the intent of the Clause and noting it is much narrower than the Plaintiffs’ interpretation. The brief also cites the current and future costs and impacts associated with illegal immigration, birth tourism, and the granting of citizenship to children born in the United States to non-citizens as highly problematic for the States that signed onto the brief. The brief closes noting that the “States have been, and will continue to be, harmed by the Citizenship Clause interpretation advanced by Plaintiffs.”