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Up First from NPR
Who gets to be an American?
Mar 9, 2025
Rond Abdel-Fattah and Ramteen Arablui, co-hosts of NPR's Throughline podcast, explore the contentious issue of birthright citizenship. They discuss the Trump administration's executive order aimed at challenging this right and dive into the historical significance of the Wong Kim Ark case, which solidified birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment. The conversation highlights the ongoing struggles for identity and belonging faced by immigrant communities, drawing parallels between past legal battles and contemporary debates on citizenship.
29:42
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Quick takeaways
- Trump's executive order aimed to end birthright citizenship ignited a legal battle reflecting the complexities of immigration policy and national identity.
- Wong Kim Ark's court case established the principle of birthright citizenship, affirming that U.S. citizenship is guaranteed to all born on American soil regardless of parental status.
Deep dives
The Executive Order and Birthright Citizenship Debate
President Donald Trump's executive order on his first day in office aimed to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents, igniting significant political and legal backlash. This order was not unexpected, as Trump had long voiced his intention to alter immigration policies surrounding citizenship. Soon after the order was issued, 22 states filed lawsuits against it, leading to federal courts temporarily blocking the measure and resulting in a protracted legal battle. This contemporary conflict taps into a longstanding question of who qualifies as American, reflecting tensions around immigration and national identity.
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Discover
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