birthright citizenship

noun

: a rule that the citizenship of a child is determined by the place of the child's birth : jus soli

In United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), the Supreme Court thoroughly examined the meaning and intent of the 14th Amendment as it applies to birthright citizenship. The Court concluded that the Constitution "affirms the ancient and fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the territory."

—Cameron Smith

Birthright citizenship, also known as jus soli (right of the soil), is relatively uncommon. There are 195 countries in the world, and only 30 of them have it—just 15 percent. Most of the countries with birthright citizenship are in North and South America.

—Nolan Rappaport

also : the citizenship conferred by this rule

Born on Manhattan's Delancey Street and raised in the Bronx, my great-aunt Libby lost her birthright citizenship at age 20 when she married an immigrant. … Thanks to the Expatriation Act, passed by Congress in 1907 and repealed in 1922, my great-aunt … spent part of her life as a natural-born alien.

—Marcia Biederman

compare jus sanguinis

Examples of birthright citizenship in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But a majority seemed unlikely to let Trump fire Cook from the Federal Reserve and unlikely to uphold his birthright citizenship executive order. —Maureen Groppe, USA Today, 4 June 2026

Congress adopted birthright citizenship in the Immigration and Nationality Acts of 1940 and 1952. —Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2026

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on birthright citizenship in the next month before the nine justices go on summer recess. —David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 30 May 2026

Forty other nations offer birthright citizenship if particular conditions are satisfied. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 29 May 2026

In pending cases, the court also looks likely to frustrate his attempts to curtail birthright citizenship and remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve Board. —Washington Post Editorial Board, Twin Cities, 29 May 2026

About two-thirds of Americans oppose ending birthright citizenship (65%), including about 9 in 10 Democrats and 7 in 10 independents. —Emily Guskin, ABC News, 3 May 2026

In the case of birthright citizenship, conventional and legal wisdom thus converged on the belief that the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment was crystal clear. —Lawrence Glickman, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026

Ninety percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents and 36 percent of Republicans say birthright citizenship should stand as is, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll. —Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 27 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for birthright citizenship

• airship
• airstrip
• clerkship
• courtship
• equip
• filmstrip
• flagship
• headship
• heirship
• judgeship
• kinship
• lightship