Does Congress or the President have the power to turn citizenship on and off in U.S. territories? We want to hear from you!

Chief Justice John Roberts recently wrote for the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara that “[a] child born on American soil and subject to American law [is] an American citizen.” Even the dissent agreed the Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil who “owe[s] no allegiance to any foreign power,” is “subject to no other authority,” and who is “‘liable to be called upon to defend [America] in time of war’ alongside every other citizen.” 

This should close the debate on whether someone born in a U.S. territory has a constitutional right to citizenship. 

Yet some still argue based on the Insular Cases that Congress or the President still have the power to unilaterally deny citizenship to anyone who is born in a U.S. territory. 

The day Barbara was decided, Vice President JD Vance called the idea of restricting citizenship by birth in U.S. territories “a great idea,” explaining “we’re certainly looking at that.”

Now Congress is considering a bill, H.R. 9724, titled the “End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act,” which would deny recognition of citizenship to anyone born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or the Northern Mariana Islands on or after “January 1, 2027.”

Relying on the Insular Cases and the Territory Clause, the bill explains, “Congress has the inherent authority to change statutes relating to citizenship of persons born in the territories.” The author of the bill argued “[j]ust like Congress possesses the power to grant the territories Constitutional rights in statute, we have the power to take them away in statute.” 

Earlier this year, Right to Democracy joined together with 21 current and former officials from across all five territories–whose views range from pro-Statehood, to pro-Independence, to other options–to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court that the federal government has no power to unilaterally deny citizenship to someone born in a U.S. territory. 

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