If you look at the actual grammar of the 14th Amendment, "birthright citizenship" might not be required by the Constitution after all.
SSRN · March 18, 2026 · 6311038
The Takeaway
By applying modern linguistic theory to the amendment's first sentence, the author argues that the 'subject to the jurisdiction' clause has been grammatically misread for a century. This challenges a fundamental pillar of American law by suggesting the text itself doesn't support the current broad interpretation of citizenship by birth.
From the abstract
<p><span>The first sentence of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has long been interpreted to confer American citizenship on any person born in the United States, unless the person was a member of a limited set of individuals deemed not subject to its jurisdiction – such as the children of visiting diplomats. President Trump, however, contends that the provision denies citizenship to any person whose mother was illegally or merely temporarily present in the United States when the perso