US Senators James Lankford (R-OK) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), together with Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, have joined an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the Fourteenth Amendment by not granting citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully present in the country.
The amicus brief argues that an executive order was properly issued to ensure adherence to this interpretation within the executive branch, but a lower court blocked its enforcement. The brief states: “The Executive Order at issue here properly ensures that rule is followed within the executive branch, but the lower court nonetheless enjoined the Executive Order. This Court should reverse.”
It also references historical precedent from 1855 when Congress established that people born outside U.S. jurisdiction whose fathers were citizens at their birth would be considered citizens themselves, with exceptions for those whose fathers never resided in the United States. The brief reads: “United States law was the same: in 1855, Congress enacted a law dictating that ‘persons heretofore born, or hereafter to be born, out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, whose fathers were or shall be at the time of their birth citizens of the United States, shall be deemed and considered and are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States,’ except for ‘persons whose fathers never resided in the United States.’”
The senators’ filing asserts that “For all these reasons, as this Court held over a century ago, the touchstone for birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment is total allegiance to the United States, rather than merely being subject to its laws or some subset thereof.”
Senator Lankford represents Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate and serves as chair of several key committees including Ethics and Finance. He has focused on issues such as safeguarding life and families while providing constituent services across Oklahoma. More information about his work can be found on his official website.
