NALEO Educational Fund Denounces Supreme Court Decision Threatening Birthright Citizenship

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2025

CONTACT:
Media Team, [email protected]

Decision Threatening Birthright Citizenship

While the ruling does not resolve the 14 ^th Amendment question,

it permits the Trump Administration's Executive Order

denying U.S. citizenship to proceed in parts of the country

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund today released a statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling allowing the Trump Administration's Executive Order to move forward, which would deny U.S. citizenship to some U.S.-born children:

"For more than a century, the 14^th Amendment to our Constitution has guaranteed that anyone born in the United States is a citizen - regardless of their parents' immigration or citizenship status. Today's ruling marks a deeply disappointing step away from that fundamental truth.

"By permitting the Executive Order to go into effect in select jurisdictions, the Court has opened the door to a fractured and unequal system - where a child's U.S. citizenship may now depend on their ZIP code or whether their family has the means or ability to challenge the policy in court.

"This decision will create confusion, not clarity. State and local government officials, many of whom are Latino, will be left to navigate a complex legal landscape, responsible for issuing birth records and other critical documents with no consistent federal standard. The resulting burden will strain already limited resources, diverting time and funds from urgent priorities like economic recovery and public safety.

"What's at stake is not just a legal classification. Today's ruling risks rendering some U.S.-born children effectively stateless and deprived of a right that should be unquestionable. It endangers their future participation in American civic life and undercuts the very principles of inclusion and equality on which this nation was built.

"Although the decision stops short of ruling on the constitutionality of the Executive Order itself, it ignores the overwhelming weight of legal precedent. The 14^th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship by birth has been upheld time and again - fortified by more than a century of judicial clarity and national consensus.

"Birthright citizenship is not a policy preference. It is a constitutional promise that reflects the best of American values: fairness, equality, and opportunity. Only a constitutional amendment - not an executive order - can alter that promise.

"As this case continues, and the Executive Order's constitutionality eventually comes before the Supreme Court, NALEO Educational Fund strongly urges the Court to reject it outright and affirm the enduring principles enshrined in the 14^th Amendment. The integrity of our Constitution - and the future of countless American children - depends on it."

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About NALEO Educational Fund
NALEO Educational Fund is the nation's leading non-profit, non-partisan organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.