ThinkTankWeekly

Birthright Citizenship in the United States: What to Know

CFR | 2026-07-02 | society

Topics: United States

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English Summary

The Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship in the United States, rejecting executive efforts to restrict it under the Fourteenth Amendment. This ruling affirms the long-standing *jus soli* principle, which grants U.S. citizenship to nearly anyone born within the nation's territory. While critics argue that this practice encourages unauthorized migration, legal experts caution that repealing birthright status would require a difficult constitutional amendment and could counterproductively worsen immigration flows. Consequently, policy attempts to restrict citizenship at birth may fail legally and undermine existing legal pathways for current residents.

中文摘要

最高法院近期重申了美國憲法的出生公民權保障,駁回了行政部門試圖根據《第十四修正案》限制此權的努力。此裁決肯定了長期存在的「屬地原則」(jus soli),即授予在國土內幾乎任何出生者的美國公民身份。儘管批評者主張此做法會鼓勵非法移民,但法律專家警告稱,廢除出生公民權需要進行艱難的憲法修正案,且可能產生反效果,反而惡化移民流動。因此,試圖限制出生公民權的政策,在法律上可能會失敗,並損害現有居民的合法居留途徑。

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