WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, “[a]ll 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”; and,
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States observed in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649, 682 (1898) that that “[t]he real object of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, in qualifying the words, ‘All persons born in the United States’ by the addition ‘and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,’ would appear to have been to exclude, by the fewest and fittest words (besides children of members of the Indian tribes, standing in a peculiar relation to the National Government, unknown to the common law), the two classes of cases -- children born of alien enemies in hostile occupation and children of diplomatic representatives of a foreign State -- both of which, as has already been shown, by the law of England and by our own law from the time of the first settlement of the English colonies in America, had been recognized exceptions to the fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the country” (emphasis added); and,
WHEREAS, under the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment, children of undocumented or unauthorized immigrants born in the United States are entitled to the rights, privileges and responsibilities of United States citizenship; and,
WHEREAS, on January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued Executive Order 14156, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” (the “Executive Order”), wherein President Trump directed that the interpretation of the phrase “and subject to the jurisdiction” specifically exclude the children of undocumented or unauthorized immigrants as the official policy of the United States; and,
WHEREAS, under the Executive Order, those persons not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States would include those persons: “(1) when that person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth, or (2) when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth”; and,
WHEREAS, the aim of the Executive Order is to deny citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants and to the children of persons whose immigration status is legal but temporary; and,
WHEREAS, the powers of the presidency of the United States are enumerated within Article II of the Constitution and are not limitless; and
WHEREAS, the President of the United States does not have the unilateral authority to redefine the qualities, characteristics, or eligibility criteria for citizenship; and,
WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States, acting in concert with the President, enacted 8 U.S.C. § 1401, which defines and qualifies the eligibility criteria for United States citizenship; and,
WHEREAS, the limitations set forth in the Executive Order run contrary to both established law, the above-statutory prescriptions and the plain language of the Constitution; and,
WHEREAS, birthright citizenship is a cornerstone of American democracy and society, in reflection of American’s unique tradition as a melting pot of culture; and,
WHEREAS, birthright citizenship is prescribed not only in over one hundred and twenty five years of American jurisprudence in Wong Kim Ark, but also by the plain text of the Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868; and,
WHEREAS, the mission of the Philadelphia Bar Association includes promoting justice and respect for the rule of law, and the Association is dedicated to ensuring that the Constitution and laws of the United States are upheld; and,
WHEREAS, the Executive Order, on its face, would seek to deny citizenship to persons for whom citizenship is guaranteed under the Constitution and laws of the United States; and,
WHEREAS, on April 17, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear oral arguments in Trump v. New Jersey, No. 24A886, Trump v. Washington, No. 24A885, and Trump v. CASA, Inc., No. 24A884 on the question of birthright citizenship.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Philadelphia Bar Association Board of Governors expresses its support for jus soli, birthright citizenship, as expressed through the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 8 U.S.C. § 1401, et seq., and through the common law jurisprudence of the United States (“birthright citizenship”); and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Philadelphia Bar Association opposes any attempt to limit or redefine the Constitutional right of birthright citizenship, as such right has existed since the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution over one hundred and fifty years ago and as affirmed by the United States Supreme Court in Wong Kim Ark; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chancellor or the Chancellor's designee is directed to communicate the content of these Resolutions to membership of the Philadelphia Bar Association, lawmakers, public officials, other bar associations, and the public at large and to take other such action as may be appropriate and to advocate for the stated position of the Philadelphia Bar Association.
PHILADELPHIA BAR ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
ADOPTED: May 22, 2025
