McClellan Statement on Supreme Court Trump v. Barbara Decision Maintaining Birthright Citizenship as a Constitutional Right

Washington, D.C. -Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-04) issued the following statement on the Supreme Court's decision in Trump v. Barbara ruling that the Trump Administration's executive order directing federal agencies to deny U.S. citizenship to children born on American soil to non-citizens is in violation of the 14th Amendment:

"Today, 250 years after our nation's founding, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump Administration's attempt to rewrite the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship by executive fiat.

"The 14th Amendment directly rejected the abhorrent decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford excluding Americans born enslaved and their descendants from citizenship. By guaranteeing citizenship to all persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, the 14th Amendment ensures that individuals born in the United States can continue to live here without fear of persecution or mistreatment, possessing the full rights and privileges of citizenship.

"Birthright citizenship draws from over a century of legal precedent in support of the ideals of diversity, fairness and equality under the law that we continue to strive for today. As Justice Jackson notes in her concurring opinion, it also reflects the principles of the English common law that endured for centuries, and the founding of our states as a new nation of immigrants. In the Trump Administration's aggressive campaign to take our nation backwards, Executive Order No. 14160 sought to upend our most fundamental historical understanding of citizenship and tear families apart.

"President Trump's attempts to redefine birthright citizenship are appalling. The fact that three Justices were prepared to let him do it is even more absurd. We face a wave of threats from the Trump Administration to the progress we have made towards a more perfect Union with liberty and justice for all. I'll continue to fight such efforts in Congress and uphold our constitutional rights."