SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments in a monumental case that could redefine the meaning of U.S. citizenship. The justices will consider President Trump's executive order that seeks to end automatic birthright citizenship for all babies born in the United States. The case is called Trump v. Barbara. NPR's Adrian Florido is here with more on what we know about Barbara and the other plaintiffs in the case. Hi, Adrian.
ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: Let's start with that. Who is Barbara, the woman challenging the president's executive order?
FLORIDO: Well, Barbara is not her real name. It's a pseudonym. The ACLU, which filed this case on her behalf, has concealed her identity out of fear that the Trump administration could retaliate against her, and they denied our request to interview her. But we do know some things about Barbara based on the court filings. She's an immigrant from Honduras. She's lived in the U.S. since 2024, and she has a pending asylum application. She said her family had to flee a criminal gang called Mara 18 in Honduras. She now lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children, and her fourth child, a little girl, was born last October after Trump signed his executive order that would end birthright citizenship for children like hers. In a court filing, she said, quote, "I am fearful for my child's future in light of this executive order. I want my baby to have access to opportunities such as access to education and permission to work legally. I do not want my child to live in fear and hiding."
DETROW: Walk me through the concrete question before the court. How would this executive order deny Barbara's baby U.S. citizenship?
FLORIDO: Well, the order says that only children born to U.S. citizens or permanent residents will be considered U.S. citizens, and neither Barbara nor her husband are citizens or permanent residents. But they are in the U.S. legally. They were allowed in after requesting asylum. So she has permission to be here while her asylum case plays out. Here's the ACLU's Cody Wofsy. He's a lead lawyer in the case, and he'll be before the justices tomorrow.
CODY WOFSY: She's in the process of seeking permission to stay in this country because of her fear of return, but it hasn't been granted yet. And so because of that distinction, the government is trying to take away her baby's citizenship.
DETROW: But Adrian, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship. This is an executive order. It isn't a law. It's the Constitution.
FLORIDO: Right.
DETROW: So what rationale is the administration using to try and convince the court that this should not apply to the children of some immigrants?
FLORIDO: Well, the 14th Amendment ratified in 1868 says, quote, "all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens." But the administration is arguing that that phrase in there, subject to the jurisdiction thereof, that it excludes the children of undocumented immigrants or people who are in the U.S. on temporary status, such as visa holders or asylum applicants like Barbara. Here again is ACLU attorney Cody Wofsy.
WOFSY: This is a massive effort to change the demographics of the country to return it to a time when it was, quite frankly, more white.
FLORIDO: The White House, though, Scott, argues that immigrants who aren't permanent residents don't owe their full allegiance to the U.S. and their children therefore don't deserve citizenship. But federal courts have for a long time held that with very rare exceptions, any child born here is a U.S. citizen.
DETROW: Barbara is just one of the plaintiffs in this case. It's a class action case. What can you tell us about the others?
FLORIDO: Well, there are two other named plaintiffs also using pseudonyms. Like Barbara, they've had children in the U.S. since the executive order was signed. There's Susan. She's a Taiwanese woman living in Utah. She now has a green card, but she had a baby last spring when she was still on a student visa. And then there's Mark, who's from Brazil. He lives in Florida and is in the process of applying for a green card. His wife, who is undocumented, also gave birth here last spring. To give you a sense, Scott, of the potential impact here, the Migration Policy Institute, a think tank that researches immigration policy, estimates that if this executive order is upheld, 250,000 babies born in the U.S. each year would be denied citizenship.
DETROW: That is NPR's Adrian Florido. Thank you so much.
FLORIDO: Thank you, Scott.
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