birthright citizenship

[burth-rahyt sit-uh-zuhn-ship]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

the practice of automatically granting citizenship to a child born in a particular country, regardless of the citizenship status of the parent or parents.
an end to birthright citizenship.
the state of having such citizenship.
to grant birthright citizenship to the child of new immigrants.

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Word History and Origins

Origin of birthright citizenship¹

First recorded in 1845–50

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

He signed an executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship, a blatant overreach of executive power that flew in the face of the 14th Amendment and instantly drew lawsuits.

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When, as I suspect, they don’t go along with what Trump wants to do on birthright citizenship, it will be all the justices, or close to it.

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Doesn’t this approach dump an immense amount of credibility on those arguments when we’re waiting for huge decisions on birthright citizenship and nationwide injunctions, and the conservative majority is overturning precedent on the shadow docket?

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Witness, for example, the flip-flops of some judges and scholars on the long-settled question of birthright citizenship, including at least one prominent conservative appellate judge said to be auditioning for a Trump appointment to the Supreme Court.

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Some of the nominees in this first slate have also supported Trump’s attack on birthright citizenship, which has been widely viewed as unconstitutional.

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birthright birthroot

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