The United States is one of a small number of countries that grant automatic citizenship to virtually every person born on its soil. This principle is rooted in the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted after the Civil War to guarantee the rights of newly freed slaves and to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford.

Below is the exact text of Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, which remains the constitutional basis for birthright citizenship.

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Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1

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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

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Sources

• U.S. Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment – Congress.gov
• Interactive Constitution – National Constitution Center
• Video explainer on birthright citizenship