Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), today responded to the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Barbara, rejecting President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to deny birthright citizenship to children born on American soil to undocumented or temporary-resident parents.
Rev. Sharpton said the ruling is not only a significant decision for immigrant families, but also an important reaffirmation of one of the central promises of the 14th Amendment: that citizenship in America cannot be narrowed based on race, lineage, parentage, or political convenience.
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The 14th Amendment was adopted after slavery and in response to Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Supreme Court decision that denied Black people citizenship. Its Citizenship Clause was written to ensure that this nation could never again create a class of people born here, living under its laws, yet denied full belonging under the Constitution.
“Today’s ruling affirms a promise that sits at the heart of the 14th Amendment,” said Rev. Al Sharpton. “Birthright citizenship was shaped by this country’s painful history of slavery, Dred Scott, and the long struggle to ensure that Black people born in America could not be denied citizenship or equal protection. That history matters. If you are born on this soil and subject to its laws, your citizenship cannot be taken away by executive order or political pressure.”
President Trump’s executive order sought to reinterpret the 14th Amendment by claiming that certain children born in the United States were not “subject to the jurisdiction” of this country because of their parents’ immigration status. The Supreme Court rejected that argument, preserving the long-standing constitutional principle that children born in the United States are citizens at birth, with only narrow exceptions.
“This decision protects immigrant families, but it also protects the broader constitutional foundation that safeguards all of us,” Rev. Sharpton continued. “Black Americans understand why the meaning of citizenship matters. When the government is allowed to decide that some people born here do not fully belong, it weakens the promise of equal protection for every community whose rights have had to be fought for and defended.”
Rev. Sharpton also emphasized that while today’s decision is important, the broader fight to protect civil rights remains urgent.
“We should welcome this ruling while remaining clear-eyed about the moment we are in,” said Rev. Sharpton. “The same forces attacking birthright citizenship are also challenging voting rights, equal opportunity, immigrant protections, and other hard-won civil rights safeguards. Today’s decision is a reminder that the 14th Amendment remains one of the strongest protections we have, and we must continue to defend it fully.”
NAN emphasized that any renewed attempt to undermine birthright citizenship, whether through executive action, legislation, or state-level efforts, should be understood as a threat to the constitutional principle of equal citizenship.
“The promise of the 14th Amendment was made real through the sacrifices of enslaved people, abolitionists, Black soldiers, Reconstruction leaders, civil rights workers, and generations of Americans who pushed this country closer to its stated ideals,” Rev. Sharpton said. “That promise belongs to all of us. National Action Network will continue to defend birthright citizenship, voting rights, equal protection, and the full meaning of citizenship in America.”
The National Action Network will continue to stand on the front lines in defense of the Constitution, birthright citizenship, voting rights, and the protections of the 14th Amendment for all people.
