Krishnamoorthi Urges Supreme Court to Defend Birthright Citizenship as Justices Take Up Trump Challenge

WASHINGTON - Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi issued the following statement after the Supreme Court agreed to hearPresident Trump's challenge to the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship:

"President Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship is not only unconstitutional - it strikes at the values that have guided us since the Civil War. For more than 150 years, our courts have read the 14th Amendment's command plainly: every child born on American soil arrives with an equal claim to the rights of citizenship. That guarantee has anchored the futures of generations of children who began life here not only with the rights of citizenship from their first breath, but with the chance to build the future their parents dreamed could be possible in America - American children whose futures should not hinge on shifting politics or prejudice. No president can override that constitutional promise or dim the welcoming light it has cast across our history. The Supreme Court must reaffirm what the Constitution makes unmistakably clear: citizenship belongs to every child born in the United States."