WASHINGTON, D.C. — FWD.us hosted a press call with civil rights leaders and legal experts ahead of tomorrow’s oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, the Supreme Court case challenging the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Speakers highlighted how birthright citizenship is integral to the United States, enshrined in the Constitution, and central to ensuring equal rights and protections for all people born in this country. They warned that efforts to restrict this right would create profound legal uncertainty for millions of families, undermine long-standing civil rights protections, and destabilize the future success and unity of our communities and economy.

“We need look no further than American history to understand the consequences of denying birthright citizenship to people born here,” said Marc Morial, President & CEO of the National Urban League. “Birthright citizenship has been the law and the standard for more than 150 years, as a value inherited from the English common law. Any effort to limit the guarantee of birthright citizenship is a direct assault on civil rights and will come with devastating implications for children, families, and communities. Elected officials pushing this change are not solving real problems. They are creating them, at great cost to our values, our economy, and our legal system. The Constitution is clear and the Supreme Court must protect the right to birthright citizenship.”

“We must see this case for what it is — an attack on civil rights and an egregious attempt to take away equal access to citizenship to everyone born in America,” said Cedric Haynes, Senior Vice President of Policy and Legislative Affairs at the NAACP. “It is a settled constitutional right that must be protected. Ending birthright citizenship would create confusion, discrimination and lasting harm to families and communities.” 

Speakers also emphasized that President Trump’s unlawful attempts to restrict birthright citizenship would not be a narrow legal shift, but a sweeping redefinition of who is recognized as fully American. It would raise immediate questions about the status of children born in the United States, create administrative chaos for hospitals, schools, and employers, and introduce new barriers for families who have long relied on the certainty of citizenship at birth.

For generations, birthright citizenship has provided a clear and consistent standard that supports family stability and economic and civic cohesion. Undermining this constitutional protection would not only tear apart families and communities, but it would also disrupt our workforce, complicate hiring and verification systems, and create new layers of bureaucracy for employers and state and local governments.

“Birthright citizenship is the foundation upon which so much of U.S. law and life are predicated," said Conchita Cruz, Co-Executive Director of The Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project. “This Executive Order has cast a shadow on what should be a joyful time for a family — bringing a new child into the world. No parent should be afraid that ICE will be waiting outside the hospital when their child is born. Yet the fear that a newborn could be detained or deported is one that so many expecting parents are grappling with as the Supreme Court decides if birthright citizenship as we know it could come to an end.”

“This is a direct attack on one of the clearest promises this country makes, and it should alarm everyone,” said Todd Schulte, President of FWD.us. “The 14th Amendment is not ambiguous. It was drafted to clearly define any person born in this country as a citizen with full and unassailable rights. Attempting to rewrite the Constitution by executive order is unprecedented and dangerous. It would create chaos for families, confusion for employers, and a system where the rights of children born in this country are suddenly up for debate. That is not accidental. It is an effort to fundamentally rewrite who counts as American, and people need to understand just how far-reaching and dangerous that would be.”

The case comes at a moment when immigration policy continues to shape economic stability and workforce growth across the country. Speakers emphasized that maintaining clear, consistent rules that support participation and contribution is essential for families, businesses, and communities alike. They urged the Supreme Court to uphold basic constitutional protections and reject this unlawful attempt to exclude millions of people from the full rights of citizenship.