Tomorrow: the Supreme Court hears a theory that could turn citizenship from a birthright into a status test.
Executive order → fringe scholarship → Supreme Court argument
- Trump moves to deny birthright citizenship
- Lower courts block it as unconstitutional
- The fallback theory: “subject to the jurisdiction” means parental allegiance/status, not birth on US soil alone
“All persons born… in the United States… are citizens”
If that theory lands, citizenship stops being automatic and starts depending on who your parents are.
Not interpretation.
Reclassification.
New wrinkle:
A sitting president showing up at oral arguments would be unprecedented.
Not legally relevant to the case, but signals how high-stakes this has become.