Free Republic

(Mar. 20, 2026) — As we enter the final days leading up to the oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, it may be prudent to review the briefs on the merits of President Trump and his opponents, as well as the myriad amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs that have been filed. To begin with, as your humble servant has posited here, the merits Opening Brief of the President, authored by Solicitor General D. John Sauer, is not merely persuasive, it is compelling. Read it for yourself. And as for the opposition’s merits brief, your servant has made his...

Pregnant Chinese women have turned a tropical paradise into a maternity ward — pumping out babies who automatically become US citizens daily. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a US territory northeast of Guam in the Pacific Ocean, has been flooded with so-called “birth tourists” since 2009 when then-president Barack Obama introduced a visa-waiver program for Chinese nationals. China-watchers estimate about 1,000 companies offer birth tourism to the Northern Mariana Islands, other US overseas territories and even the US mainland. They claim a gob-smacking 1.5 million American babies are being raised in China by Chinese parents who’ve participated...

A major shakeup of America’s immigration system is now on the table, as Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) rolls out legislation aimed at dismantling decades of globalist policy and restoring what he says should be a strictly “America First” standard. The proposal would represent one of the most sweeping immigration overhauls in modern U.S. history—targeting not just illegal immigration, but the very structure of the legal system itself. At the heart of the bill is a clear directive: immigration policy must serve the national interest—not foreign interests, not activist agendas, and not bureaucratic inertia. “All immigration to the United States shall...

Time is running out. In a high-stakes geopolitical chess game unfolding over decades, birth tourism—especially from China—represents a stealthy assault on U.S. sovereignty. Wealthy Chinese families, often linked to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are systematically exploiting America's birthright citizenship to forge a generation of U.S. passport holders raised under Beijing's iron grip. As Peter Schweizer exposes in his explosive new book The Invisible Coup, this isn't mere family planning; it's a calculated weapon that could hijack elections, erode policies, and dismantle the nation from within. We're not talking hypotheticals—the first waves of these "Manchurian" voters are hitting adulthood now,...

(The Center Square) - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on April 1 over whether to uphold birthright citizenship in the United States. Trump v. Barbara challenges President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025, executive order that denies birthright citizenship to children in the U.S. born after Feb. 19, 2025, whose parents are either illegally present or temporary residents of the United States. The case has far-reaching consequences and could fundamentally redefine the 14th amendment, an addendum to the U.S. Constitution that provided citizenship to formerly enslaved African Americans. Legal analysts said much interpretation of the 14th Amendment has shaped...

(Jan. 26, 2026) — INTRODUCTION As dedicated P&E readers are well aware, there is now pending in the Supreme Court the case of Trump v. Barbara. The case involves a challenge to President Trump’s Executive Order 14160 regarding the meaning of “birthright citizenship” under the 14th Amendment. Following a post by the intrepid P&E Editor here, your humble servant addressed the issue here. The Supreme Court granted certiorari review as to one of the two cases where President Trump had petitioned for review on Dec. 5, 2025. Now, the matter is proceeding before the Court through briefing of the merits...

...In a newly filed brief at the Supreme Court, the Trump admin. isn’t arguing politics or modern talking points, like so many experts thought they would... They’re arguing history. And once you see what they put on the record, it’ll be clear to you why this entire “birthright” debate has been shut down for so long.What Team Trump put in front of the Supreme Court of the United States was a very long paper trail showing how birthright citizenship has been understood for decades after the 14th Amendment was ratified... The 14th Amendment doesn’t say that anyone born on US...

For the Founders, only the children of citizens are themselves “natural born citizens.”Who shall be considered natural-born citizens? The term “natural born citizen” first appears in Article II, Section 1, and Amendment XII of the Constitution. For the Framers to have used such a term without explanation means there must have been a commonly understood, contemporary definition—and, in fact, there was. This definition can be found in Book 1, Sections 212-217, of “Law of Nations,” by the Franco-Swiss political philosopher, Emerich de Vattel, and first published in 1758.§212. Citizens and natives. The citizens are the members of the civil society:...

Birthright citizenship — the idea that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen, with full right to receive all benefits and vote when they come of age — has been a fixture of the administration of the laws in this country for my entire lifetime. But does the text of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution make the birthright citizenship rule apply to all cases, even the most extreme? Under the 14th Amendment, properly interpreted, do children born of illegal aliens subject to a deportation order really qualify for birthright citizenship? How about children born of an...

There is now a modern twist to be considered in the birthright citizenship debate.Last week, our friends at The Federalist ran a couple of pieces — one by Brianna Lyman and the other by John Daniel Davidson — on the opportunity currently before the U.S. Supreme Court with respect to birthright citizenship and the legal absurdities our current practice encompasses.If you’re familiar at all with the history of this highly unusual practice, you know that it emanates from the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which reads…All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the...

On Friday, the Supreme Court announced that it would hear challenges to President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment automatically makes all babies born on American territory citizens. Trump’s effort to overturn the traditional reading of the constitutional text and history should not succeed. Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment provided a constitutional definition of citizenship for the first time. It declares that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." In antebellum America, states...

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear arguments in a case that will determine if President Donald Trump can undo automatic citizenship for people born in the United States. Trump, on his first day back in the White House on Jan. 20, issued an executive order that said babies born in the U.S. more than 30 days after that order were not entitled to be issued citizenship documents if their parents were temporary visitors or illegal aliens.

The battle over who qualifies as an American at birth has officially reached the highest court in the land. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the historic challenge to President Donald Trump’s 2025 executive order restricting birthright citizenship, setting the stage for what could be the most consequential interpretation of the 14th Amendment in more than a century. Trump’s order—one of the signature actions of his America First immigration agenda—asserts that children born to illegal aliens on U.S. soil do not automatically receive citizenship, countering decades of bureaucratic interpretation and closing what critics call one of...

Election integrity was a key element in President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign. In March of 2025, shortly after resuming office, President Trump signed an executive order (EO) intended to increase election security and assure election integrity in American elections. A key component of that EO was the requirement for voters to provide proof of citizenship, establishing that they are eligible to cast their vote in federal elections, before being allowed to cast a ballot. That doesn't seem an unreasonable requirement, unless you're a Democrat. A U.S. District judge has now overturned that provision of the president's order. Donald Trump’s request...

(Oct. 26, 2025) — INTRODUCTION Well, well, well… some sanity and rational thought may at last be seeping into the question and analysis of the so-called “birthright citizenship” issue under the 14th Amendment. As discussed by your humble servant earlier this year here, the 14th Amendment birthright citizenship issue is different, but closely related, to the “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) issue under Art. 2, § 1, Cl. 5, the Constitution’s “Eligibility Clause.” Because that which follows may become convoluted, readers may wish to keep a supply of their favorite caffeinated beverage nearby. As a preliminary matter, that clause, of course,...

FIRST ON FOX: Nearly all Republican attorneys general asked the Supreme Court on Friday to side with President Donald Trump in his fight to curtail birthright citizenship, offering a wide show of support for one of the president’s most controversial agenda items. The 24 states, led by Iowa’s Brenna Bird and Tennessee’s Jonathan Skrmetti, argued in an amicus brief that the 14th Amendment, which addresses birthright citizenship, was not designed to give automatic citizenship to babies born to mothers living in the country illegally or temporarily visiting.

A South Florida business is turning childbirth into a passport to the American dream. The booming business is called Have My Baby in Miami and offers maternity services to foreigners. While President Donald Trump is pushing to end birthright citizenship, experts say the practice is constitutional. Have My Baby in Miami is a concierge service for foreigners who want to have their baby on U.S. soil. “Once you arrive in the USA, we recommend you obtain an American SIM card,” the company says on its website. The Have My Baby in Miami website says it offers “complete logistical support.” The...

A second illegal migrant hit in the mass shooting at a Dallas ICE facility has died from his injuries, according to his “shattered” wife, who is expecting their fifth child any day now. Mexican national Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, 32, was shot at least eight times during last Wednesday’s sniper-style attack and was rushed to Parkland Hospital in a critical condition before dying of his injuries, CBS News reported. Garcia-Hernandez, who was in the US illegally, was detained by ICE after being arrested on Aug. 8 for a DUI, Gauffeny previously said.

The Trump administration has filed a pair of petitions to the Supreme Court asking the justices to hear appeals on its birthright citizenship order, cases which could add to the growing list of questions related to President Donald Trump‘s actions that the high court will consider in its upcoming term.The two petitions appeared on the Supreme Court’s public docket Monday, after being filed late Friday, and they urged the justices to take appeals in both cases, which were brought by Democrat-led states and a group of people who could be affected by Trump’s order.The question presented to the high court...

I have written several posts on California Federal District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong’s temporary restraining order more or less preventing ICE from operating in California’s Central District — the district covering the seven counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. The counties’ population of nearly 20 million people is the largest of any federal judicial district in the country. I wrote about Judge Frimpong’s crimping of ICE in posts that are accessible here. It’s crazy, baby. That’s my view. ... By a vote of 6-3, the Supreme Court order has stayed Judge...