Unconditional birthright citizenship is rare outside the Americas.

Rooted in the 14th Amendment, birthright citizenship prevents the creation of a permanent noncitizen class by granting citizenship at birth, but it has become a focal point of modern political efforts to restrict immigration.

Proponents of limiting birthright citizenship claim that undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders do not meet the 14th Amendment's "subject to the jurisdiction" requirement, arguing their allegiance remains with another country.

The Indian Citizenship Act granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the US, more than 130 years after the Constitution's ratification. Even then, some states continued to deny Native Americans the right to vote for decades.

As legal challenges progressed, a May 2025 NPR/Ipsos poll showed fewer than one-third of Americans supported eliminating birthright citizenship, despite broader public backing for other immigration restrictions.

In September 2025, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to review lower court rulings striking down its executive order on birthright citizenship. If the court takes the case, a decision is expected by mid-2026.

In 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment guaranteed US citizenship to Wong Kim Ark, born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants—establishing a lasting precedent for birthright citizenship regardless of parental status.

In 2025, President Trump signed an order attempting to end automatic citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants or temporary visa holders—limiting it to those with a US citizen or permanent resident parent.

In June 2025, the Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of the order. Since then, two federal appellate courts have found the order unconstitutional, halting its enforcement nationwide.

The first federal citizenship law limited naturalization to white immigrants, excluding enslaved people, Indigenous communities, and most non-Europeans.

The 14th Amendment was crafted to overturn Dred Scott by granting birthright citizenship to formerly enslaved people and their descendants, securing their legal status under federal law.

This podcast series explores how millions live without citizenship or legal status. Through expert interviews and personal stories, it examines how history, borders, and policy can leave entire populations without citizenship and rights.

While bidets are a typical household essential in Europe, Asia, and South America, they remain uncommon in the US. Associations with infertility, the aristocracy, and brothels helped fuel their unpopularity in the states.

Native Americans and Alaska Natives face significant health disparities linked to chronic underinvestment in reservation health infrastructure, poverty, and multigenerational psychological harm—often called historical or inherited trauma.

That year, about 40% of the babies were born to unmarried parents, and about 32% of the births were born via cesarean. On average, mothers were 27.5 years old when they had their first child.

Federal programs such as Medicaid and SNAP are often available to US green-card holders, but that's not typically the case for people with other immigration statuses in the US, like DACA recipients, asylum applicants, and unauthorized immigrants.

Following decades of citizens pressing for reform, President Johnson signed legislation abolishing national-origin quotas, enabling increased immigration from Asia and Africa. The LBJ Presidential Library features photos, videos, audio clips, and text from the 1965 signing ceremony.

In a BBC "Lives Less Ordinary" podcast, Milton Washington recounts his early life as a stateless child in South Korea—born to a Korean mother and a Black US soldier—and his path to US citizenship.

The Johnson-Reed Act established stringent national-origin quotas favoring northern and Western Europeans while restricting immigration from other regions. This article chronicles the act's origins, its implications, and subsequent efforts to overturn these restrictions.

Research examining incarceration records and crime data generally finds that immigrants—including undocumented individuals—have lower crime and incarceration rates than US-born citizens, though measurement is limited by gaps in national data on immigration status.

This interactive tool from the National Constitution Center allows you to compare constitutional rights globally, highlighting which countries have adopted protections similar to those in the US Constitution—and how shared principles manifest in different legal forms around the world.

This site allows you to see how your life would change if you were one of the 251 people born this minute in a new place. See stats on the average life expectancy, child mortality, income, and other major factors in these countries, compared to life in the country where you already live.

In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled in Dred Scott v. Sandford that Black Americans could not be US citizens. The decision heightened an already brewing conflict and became a key factor in pushing the nation toward civil war.

Europe had limited religious tolerance for centuries, but always as a privilege granted by rulers who could revoke it. The First Amendment in the United States was unique for the time: It banned the government from interfering with religion, making religious freedom a permanent constitutional limit on state power.

It was the second country, after the UK, to legalize the procedure, which is still prohibited in the US. There are more than 300 rare mitochondrial diseases that can be passed from a mother to her offspring.

Literacy tests, poll taxes, and even explicit laws kept Black Americans off juries until well into the 20th century. The Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968 mandated that federal juries reflect a fair cross-section of the community, though racial disparities in jury selection persist.

Created by executive order during the Obama administration, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy provides temporary deportation protection and work authorization for undocumented individuals brought to the US as children. Explore the history and ongoing political debates surrounding DACA and citizenship pathways.

After finishing a Smithsonian-sponsored expedition to East Africa, US President Theodore Roosevelt stopped by Paris and gave a speech about the responsibilities an ordinary citizen has to their republic. Citizens must know there is no effort without error, knowing they "fail while daring greatly" in pursuit of a truly democratic republic. This podcast series on powerful speeches across history is written and narrated by historian and author Jon Meacham.

The child, born in May 2020, was selected by her parents to optimize for certain health qualities based on an analysis of her multifactorial genes by a New Jersey-based company called Genomic Prediction. Her embryo was selected for implantation based on polygenic risk scores for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

First articulated in 1823 by President James Monroe, the doctrine declared the Western Hemisphere off limits to European colonization. It has since been invoked to justify US military interventions in Latin America, from Teddy Roosevelt's takeover of Venezuela to George H.W. Bush's arrest of Panama's leader Manuel Noriega.

Broadly known as anti-natalism, the philosophical stance against having children stems from a variety of factors. In Japan, it arises amid low fertility rates, economic pressures, and ethical concerns. This essay explores the reasons some Japanese embrace the philosophy.

To become a naturalized US citizen, you must answer 10 questions out of a pool of 100, with at least six being correct in order to pass. It's commonly said that many natural-born American citizens would likely not do so well on the test. To get a sense of the questions asked, challenge yourself with 10 civics questions with this fun quiz from the AP to see how you'd do on the all-important naturalization test.

One of the great achievements of modern humanity has been the sea change in child mortality rates—the chance that a newborn eventually lives past puberty. For thousands of years, children had a 50% chance of not entering adulthood. About 300 years...

Queer relationships and transgender people aren’t new. Even though gay marriage has been legalized fairly recently in Western countries, people all over the world have engaged in relationships beyond heterosexuality throughout the centuries. Although contemporary tribes have various views around homosexuality, there are numerous examples of queer relationships within indigenous traditions across what is now called the Americas.

European ancestry dominates genetic research, hindering the usage of genetic databases for precision medicine for other groups, including African Americans, who face higher health risks due to genetic variants. Many Indigenous communities have also resisted genetic research due to past exploitation.

Despite these commonalities, different cultures have distinct customs, such as the number of people who can be married at one time, the types of marriage partners allowed, and whether elaborate ceremonies are observed. Families can range from the smaller nuclear unit to extensive multi-generation families and households.

Also known as climatic determinism, the theory states that the latitudes where people are located influence their emotional and intellectual capabilities. Originating in Ancient Greece, these ideas were used throughout history to justify racial hierarchies.

This video outlines what basic human rights are, who gets to pick them, who enforces them, and how. The basic idea of human rights states that each of us is entitled to the same basic rights and freedoms, no matter who we are or where we are born....

In a 2025 decision arising from litigation over a presidential order on birthright citizenship, the Supreme Court held that individual federal judges may not nationwide block executive policies—curbing the use of sweeping injunctions and reshaping how constitutional challenges proceed through the courts.

Indigenous people lived in the Americas for centuries before the arrival of the first Europeans in the 15th century. Their arrival was disastrous for Native tribes; in addition to being enslaved and losing their land, they had no natural immunity to the diseases brought by colonists. Eventually, up to 95% of the Native American population was killed by illnesses including typhus, chickenpox, and cholera, an event now known as the Great Dying.