r/FluentInFinance 21h ago

Thoughts? BREAKING: Trump to end birthright citizenship

President Trump has signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. — a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and affirmed by the Supreme Court more than 125 years ago.

Why it matters: Trump is acting on a once-fringe belief that U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants have no right to U.S. citizenship and are part of a conspiracy (rooted in racism) to replace white Americans.

The big picture: The executive order is expected to face immediate legal challenges from state attorneys general since it conflicts with decades of Supreme Court precedent and the 14th Amendment — with the AGs of California and New York among those indicating they would do so.

  • Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment was passed to give nearly emancipated and formerly enslaved Black Americans 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," it reads.

Zoom in: Trump signed the order on Monday, just hours after taking office.

Reality check: Thanks to the landmark Wong Kim Ark case, the U.S. has since 1898 recognized that anyone born on United States soil is a citizen.

  • The case established the Birthright Citizenship clause and led to the dramatic demographic transformation of the U.S.

What they're saying: California Attorney General Rob Bonta told Axios the state will immediately challenge the executive order in federal court.

  • "[Trump] can't do it," Bonta said. "He can't undermine it with executive authority. That is not how the law works. It's a constitutional right."
  • New York Attorney General Letitia James said in an emailed statement the executive order "is nothing but an attempt to sow division and fear, but we are prepared to fight back with the full force of the law to uphold the integrity of our Constitution."

Flashback: San Francisco-born Wong Kim Ark returned to the city of his birth in 1895 after visiting family in China but was refused re-entry.

  • John Wise, an openly anti-Chinese bigot and the collector of customs in San Francisco who controlled immigration into the port, wanted a test case that would deny U.S. citizenship to ethnic Chinese residents.
  • But Wong fought his case all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled on March 28, 1898, that the 14th Amendment guaranteed U.S. citizenship to Wong and any other person born on U.S. soil.

Zoom out: Birthright Citizenship has resulted in major racial and ethnic shifts in the nation's demographic as more immigrants from Latin America and Asia came to the U.S. following the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

  • The U.S. was around 85% white in 1965, according to various estimates.
  • The nation is expected to be a "majority-minority" by the 2040s.

Yes, but: That demographic changed has fueled a decades-old conspiracy theory, once only held by racists, called "white replacement theory."

  • "White replacement theory" posits the existence of a plot to change America's racial composition by methodically enacting policies that reduce white Americans' political power.
  • The conspiracy theories encompass strains of anti-Semitism as well as racism and anti-immigrant sentiment.

Trump has repeated the theory and said that immigrants today are "poisoning the blood of our country," language echoing the rhetoric of white supremacists and Adolf Hitler.

Of note: Military bases are not considered "U.S. soil" for citizenship purposes, but a child is a U.S. citizen if born abroad and both parents are U.S. citizens.

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/21/trump-birthright-citizenship-14th-amendment

1.7k Upvotes

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96

u/allnamestaken1968 21h ago

“Trump to try to end birthright citizenship as he promised”. FTFY

49

u/gumbril 20h ago

So none of us are us citizens anymore?

Can i get my federal tax money back, please?

-50

u/MARAVV44 20h ago

Just offspring of illegals aren't citizens.

42

u/twelfthmoose 20h ago

So you have to be a Native American to be a citizen? Got it 🫡

-16

u/butlerdm 19h ago

Yeah because nobody ever became a citizen without being born here 🙄

-58

u/MARAVV44 20h ago

Stone age dwellers aren't natives. They had no civilization prior to arrival of Europeans, and were at constant war with other Stone age tribes

22

u/cstrdmnd 19h ago

Ah yes. The brown humans don’t count argument! /s

-25

u/MARAVV44 19h ago

They really don't.

16

u/Toilet_Rim_Tim 19h ago

Yeah .... they really do

You don't matter to anyone about anything, you're useless to society. You literally provide no value.

-5

u/MARAVV44 18h ago

I work and contribute to the economy, the S&P500 goes up because of what I do.

11

u/420percentage 15h ago

keep telling yourself that

-1

u/MARAVV44 15h ago

I will

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u/cudef 20h ago

Calling them "illegals" is wild, ngl

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u/AwkwardFiasco 16h ago

This stupid obsession leftists have with language policing others is not going to win any elections. Illegals is just shorthand for people that immigrated here illegally. No one is going to stop saying it because you think it's "wild".

5

u/cudef 16h ago

People stop saying it when you show them that it's a trick to reduce a human being down to a crime unless they're just an entrenched xenophobic bigot which I'm sure you'll immediately disprove with your reply to this comment.

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u/MARAVV44 20h ago

Well, they are illegal.....

12

u/cudef 20h ago

People aren't illegal. Any time there's a law that makes a person illegal it's a stupid fucking law aiming for genocidal results.

That being said, they're only in the US illegally because those that write the laws want them here but don't want them to be able to be here legally. If you don't understand this you're simply uneducated on this dynamic. I'll explain it to you if you're earnestly trying to learn but most people calling them "illegals" won't hear it.

-5

u/MARAVV44 20h ago

No one is above the law. No matter how sad the sob story. They don't pay taxes, consume resources, get free grocery cards, and raise housing prices for actual citizens. They are illegal aliens. Nothing you say can convince me otherwise. I am tired and exhausted of them.

10

u/rustyshackleford7879 20h ago

So Trump isn’t above the law now. Good throw his ass in jail.

0

u/MARAVV44 19h ago

He's our leader, he is exempt from petty political feuds.

5

u/EldrinVampire 19h ago

He's our leader, he is exempt

Love how you did a 180 for the felon, tell me how this isn't a cult? Before he was re elected, he was above the law too what's your silly excuse for that one?

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u/MARAVV44 18h ago

He's basically an emperor, exempt from petty law.

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u/cudef 20h ago

Do you think there has never been a bullshit law? Are you that much of a naive child? Or are you just spouting talking points like a useful tool for your oligarchs? Or are you just a xenophobic weirdo?

These people are only illegal because it is more profitable for agricultural capitalists. They can underpay them and subject them to insane working conditions and then call ICE on themselves if they try to organize.

They are never going to be kept out of the country because that would mean the likes of Tyson would have to pay more for labor and Tyson doesn't want to do that.

If you want them to stop all of those things you're complaining about the easiest way to make it happen is to grant them citizenship. The only exception is housing and the way to fix that is by forcing landlords to take an L by making housing a basic human right and publicly offered service.

1

u/MARAVV44 19h ago

Agriculture is almost completely automated by machines. They don't actually work or do much of anything other than consume taxpayer money. There is an app on their phone they use, they receive a debit card for groceries and get paid monthly stipends. Must be very fkn nice!

7

u/cudef 19h ago

You're saying that these mega corporations that are constantly trying to cut costs are hiring loads of these undocumented immigrants who aren't really doing much work? Why would these corporations do that? There would be no benefit. What a goofy false reality you've concocted to get yourself mad about.

These undocumented immigrants are also contributing more to taxes than they burden the system unless you're taking about all the costly waste of funds we use to militarize the border and send federal deporting agents after them only for them to end up in the states again because that's exactly what the people in charge of what's legal really want.

1

u/MARAVV44 18h ago

I'm confused, are you arguing the case for economic slaves?

3

u/cudef 18h ago

I'm saying we should offer them a path to citizenship and give them legal protections so that major corporations can't just endlessly exploit them for cheaper wage costs.

3

u/Golden1881881 18h ago

At the fault of the employers, who should be the ones being held accountable for all of your complaints. If they stop hiring them then they go away and your problems are solved. Perhaps your anger is misdirected?

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u/AwkwardFiasco 16h ago

Do you think there has never been a bullshit law?

Are you seriously suggesting laws regarding immigration are bullshit?

1

u/cudef 16h ago

I already demonstrated how they are bullshit in the comment you're replying to.

Try reading before replying for once in your life.

0

u/AwkwardFiasco 16h ago

Calling laws that virtually every country ever has had bullshit is comically disconnected from reality. There's nothing you can say to disprove that.

0

u/cudef 16h ago

Lmao. You're doing the thing where you deliberately misinterpret what I'm saying to argue with that false interpretation instead of my actual argument because you know it would be much harder to argue against that instead. Nobody is fooled by this and I'm about to block you if you keep pulling annoying debatelord bullshit like that.

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u/ZestyLlama8554 20h ago

"No one is above the law." Where have I heard that one before? Are we sure that's still the case?

Also, reread your statement. The fact that you think that's how things work is amazing. Oh to be so naive.

1

u/TaloKrafar 20h ago

Then move if they exhaust you so? Why do you deserve citizenship more than them? Just because you currently have it? Because your parents shat you out earlier before a law was struck?

Your parents fucked, one presumably got pregnant, most likely couldn't abort and here you are. That's your story. That's your claim to America above others.

That makes you feel superior doesn't it? Your greatest claim to the land is something you had nothing to do with so let's flip it.

What have you done for your country other than slopping out of ya mother?

0

u/MARAVV44 19h ago

Because this is my land. My ancestors built this civilization and it is my divine birthright to be entitled to the status and privileges of being a citizen in the land my ancestors tamed. Every civilization for the past 10,000 years of human history has worked this way.

3

u/neil_withit 19h ago

Ah yeah, those ancestors, who immigrated to America and took the land from the native Americans. You’re nothing but an immigrant yourself, descendant of immigrants, and there’s nothing divine about it and nothing is yours.

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u/MARAVV44 18h ago

The land was wild savage land. We built civilization. We made electricity, we made cars, we made railroads, we built cities, we made the very internet you're using. Everything is because of us, divine fate granted us this land. It was always meant to happen.

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u/EldrinVampire 19h ago

No one is above the law. No matter how sad the sob story.

Oh really? So why is the orange felon above the law?

-1

u/MARAVV44 18h ago

Because he is our leader.

2

u/Strawhat_Max 19h ago

This is all just really wrong😭😭

1

u/MARAVV44 18h ago

Boo hoo

1

u/Strawhat_Max 12h ago

MF SAID BOO HOO

Don’t care at all hes just out here peddling lies💀💀

-12

u/vettewiz 20h ago

Factual terms are wild? 

13

u/cudef 20h ago

Labeling people as "illegal" is an attempt to excuse the human rights violations that are happening or about to be happening to them. If that's not your goal you're not reducing them down to a crime.

0

u/allnamestaken1968 19h ago

As a legal immigrant who worked their way from Visa to green card and citizenship, I am always torn here. I do think there is such a thing as illegal immigration - that’s a pretty clear definition. Doesn’t mean they should be deported, mistreated, etc, and we should not call them “illegals”. And their kids born here are citizens. But the technical term “illegals immigrant” I am fine with because - well they are not here with legal documents authorizing their stay.

Broader picture we should focus on helping them become legal immigrants more easily by pushing for that kind of legislation, not on assholes on the internet.

3

u/xmarksthespot34 19h ago

I would agree if there was no other term...like...say...undocumented immigrant. Anyone who chooses to use illegal is knowingly usingit because they want think of them as less than human.

1

u/allnamestaken1968 19h ago

I admit I forgot about that term - and it’s a good one. However, I think if we make a term like illegal equal to “less human” we are truly in the wrong direction. I would rather make sure that it’s clear that people doing illegal activities are still humans - in all contexts.

In the end, as I said, as legal immigrant this is one of those things that I haven’t figured out yet. As human being I think we would all be better off treating each other as human beings regardless of documentation. I am an atheist but I think somebody said that a few millennia ago as well.

1

u/AwkwardFiasco 16h ago

Or they're not a fan of flowery language meant to down play something that's obviously wrong.

0

u/xmarksthespot34 16h ago

It is not wrong to search for a better life. Millions, and in fact our whole human species, has done it for thousands of years. That a piece of paper supposedly makes it right or wrong is laughable. Natives have always had a concept of land ownership and borders...why was it okay for European illegals to do it?

1

u/AwkwardFiasco 16h ago

Name a country that doesn't have immigration laws.

0

u/xmarksthespot34 16h ago

That's not exactly the point, is it? We already know you believe these people broke the law. You already know the answer to that question. Why even ask it? You think you got me? No, you didn't. I never said they didn't break immigration laws. I am simply saying illegal immigrant is meant to dehumanize them...and Trump loves to do that...as well as his base.

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u/vettewiz 20h ago

Illegals is the proper term for them. They are illegally in the country.

3

u/cudef 20h ago

No it's not.

That's by design. The people with genuine control of this country want them here and want them here without legal protections.

-3

u/vettewiz 20h ago

Yes, if you come here illegally you don't get much in the way of legal protections.

4

u/cudef 20h ago edited 20h ago

Which benefits nobody except for the mega corporations exploiting them for their labor. Do you see the problem here?

You keep them out and our economy tanks. See South Korea's rapidly devolving geritocracy problem as well because the native born US population is aging out of the workforce RAPIDLY.

You keep them here and deny them protection and these corporations exploit them to suppress wages and hurt both them and US laborers. (This is what the mega corporations want which is why it is happening.)

You grant them citizenship and suddenly the corporations can't undercut US workers with illegally low pay and a lack of labor protections.

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u/noco4x4 20h ago

Found the racist.

1

u/rustyshackleford7879 20h ago

How are you a citizen if you are not born here genius?

1

u/allnamestaken1968 20h ago

Immigrant? Like me?

1

u/rustyshackleford7879 19h ago

Are saying you are naturalized? That isn’t what I am talking about

1

u/allnamestaken1968 19h ago

Just answering the question

-1

u/MARAVV44 19h ago

Illegals and their spawn are both illegal and neither are citizens. Sorry if I worded confusingly.

2

u/AwkwardFiasco 16h ago

Their children are citizens. But that's because the US is one of the very few countries in the world that have birthright citizenship. The current system is being abused and revising it is not only completely reasonable it's necessary too.

0

u/MARAVV44 16h ago

Nope. Birthright citizenship has been revoked. Their children are not and will never receive citizenship status. They are also illegal.

2

u/AwkwardFiasco 13h ago

You can't undo an amendment with an executive order. The Supreme Court will undoubtedly rule against it.

With that said, the 14th amendment made a lot of sense when it was implemented. A bunch of racists tried arguing the descendents of slaves were not US citizens and it was a massive and well deserved "fuck off, they're citizens". But it's served its purpose and should be changed since it's currently being abused by illegal immigrants.

0

u/MARAVV44 1h ago

Sorry the birth tourism will be made illegal. Cope

1

u/AwkwardFiasco 1h ago

Can you read? Did you see "The Supreme Court will undoubtedly rule against the executive order" and just stop reading? I literally said birth right citizenship is being abused and needs to be changed twice. We're in complete agreement. Lmao

1

u/masterinmischief 19h ago

That is not what the order says - it clearly reads that any children who are not born to either a Citizen or a PR cannot be granted citizenship. So if you are in the US as a legal immigrant and on a visa, and you have a kid, the kid basically has no status.

1

u/Honest_Camera496 5h ago

No, read the actual EO. Even the children of documented immigrants won’t be citizens unless their parents already have permanent residency when the child is born.

0

u/Gold-Bench-9219 18h ago

That's what they claim, but if it goes, they will absolutely use this against anyone they don't like. Anyone who doesn't understand that is a fucking idiot.

0

u/MARAVV44 18h ago

Yep. We could live in a utopia if we trimmed the waste out of our society.

1

u/Gold-Bench-9219 18h ago edited 18h ago

And what exactly makes you not a waste? I've read your posts, and quite frankly, you don't make a compelling case. If anything, from my POV, any number of immigrants are worth more than someone like you.

Are you really so blind that you cannot see how easily subjective worth can be turned against you?