Ohio House Democrats Commend Supreme Court for Reaffirming Birthright Citizenship

COLUMBUS - Ohio House Minority Leader Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) today released the following statement regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling in Trump v. Barbara. This case arose from President Trump's day-one executive order which declared hundreds of thousands of people born in the United States every year were no longer citizens by birth.

"Today, the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed the Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship, preserving the longstanding understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause and the principle that has defined American citizenship for generations. As our country marks its 250th year, today's decision is a reminder that some of our most enduring values were forged during moments of profound national reckoning.

The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment reads, "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." The Fourteenth Amendment was adopted after the Civil War to ensure that citizenship could never again depend on race, politics, or the whims of those in power. It was a declaration that America would be defined by equal protection under the law and that constitutional rights would not be reserved for a select few.

Chief Justice Roberts, in his opinion, highlighted that 'citizenship, then and now was the right to have rights-to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to "every free-born person in this land." …We keep that promise today.'

Constitutional rights do not become less meaningful because they are politically inconvenient. The strength of our democracy has always depended on applying the Constitution consistently, not selectively.

A government that can strip rights from one group today can and will threaten the rights of others tomorrow.

For more than 150 years, birthright citizenship has reflected America's commitment to equal justice under the law. Upholding that principle honors both our Constitution and the generations who fought to make its promises real.

As we celebrate 250 years as a nation, we should remember that America's greatest achievements have come not from shrinking the circle of rights, but from widening it. Today's decision ratifies that enduring constitutional promise, and that is something worth recognizing."