Donald Trump has said he intends on ending birthright citizenship, which would require overturning the 14th Amendment. But even by attempting to overturn it– which would trigger scores of lawsuits – the question could appear in front of the Supreme Court,

Donald Trump’s team is crafting an executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants, a monumental move the president-elect’s allies say is a key step in their long-term strategy: getting the issue before the Supreme Court.

In United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment provides people born in the U.S. citizenship at birth.

The President-elect has promised to halt the policy as soon as he gets into office, though such efforts would face steep legal hurdles.

On 'Meet the Press,' Donald Trump again promised to use executive action to change birthright citizenship. What does that mean?

This would presumably expose millions to deportation from the land where they were born. As Christian Farias noted in New York Magazine when Trump threatened to end birthright citizenship in 2018, this issue would certainly wind up in the courts, as it exceeds Trump’s authority as president and violates a constitutional right:

President-elect Donald Trump said he’ll end the constitutional right for anyone born in the United States to have citizenship — a concept known as birthright citizenship. But of all the ways Trump might try to alter U.S. policy, birthright citizenship is pretty set in stone, according to legal scholars.

During his first major interview since winning the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump reiterated a promise he’s made multiple times: He will try to eliminate birthright citizenship, the longstanding practice of conferring citizenship on anyone born in the United States,