Federal Legislation Seeks to “End Birthright Citizenship in U.S. Territories”

New Bill Follows Statement by Vice President JD Vance Calling the Denial of Birthright Citizenship in U.S. Territories “A Great Idea”

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Barbara upholding the constitutional principle of birthright citizenship, new federal legislation is challenging that principle as it applies to people born in U.S. territories. The End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act, H.R. 9724, introduced by Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA 9) would amend federal statutes that automatically recognize people born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands as U.S. citizens to end that guarantee for anyone born on or after “January 1, 2027.” 

Relying on the Insular Cases and Territory Clause, the proposed legislation explains “Congress has the power to legislate with respect to the United States territories, including citizenship status,” emphasizing that “Congress has the inherent authority to change statutes relating to citizenship of persons born in the territories.” In a release, Rep. Griffith claimed “the Barbara case leaves the door open for Congressional action on citizenship in the American territories.” He explained, “Just like Congress possesses the power to grant the territories Constitutional rights in statute, we have the power to take them away in statute.” 

“This dangerous and unconstitutional legislation highlights the problem with the Insular Cases and the idea that Congress has the power to simply turn constitutional rights on and off at will in U.S. territories,” said Neil Weare, Co-Director of Right to Democracy, an organization that seeks to advance democracy, equity, and self-determination in U.S. territories. 

Weare served as counsel of record in an amicus brief filed in Barbara on behalf of 21 current and former officials from U.S. territories that argued against the idea that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits Congress to unilaterally deny citizenship to people born in U.S. territories. “This is a concern we’ve been warning about for a long time, and here it is in black and white,” Weare said.

While the proposed legislation states it “shall not be construed to affect the citizenship or nationality of a person born in the United States territories, who is born as a child of a United States citizen or the child of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the United States,” the actual text of the amendments in the legislation includes no such exceptions.

“The proposed amendments to federal statute are sweeping, and could mean that anyone born in a U.S. territory starting in 2027 would no longer be recognized as a U.S. citizen, indeed, may not be a citizen of anywhere,” Weare said. “While Rep. Griffith says his legislative intent is to focus on addressing so-called ‘birth tourism,’ the actual text of the legislative amendments does not contain any limiting language and could deny citizenship to anyone born in a territory moving forward.”

This legislative proposal comes on the heels of Vice President JD Vance stating on the Laura Ingram show the day of the Barbara decision that he thought the idea of limiting birthright citizenship in U.S. territories by executive action was “a great idea” and that “we're certainly looking at that.” He was responding to a proposal from a senior official at The Heritage Foundation who argued based on the Insular Cases that U.S. territories “are not auto-bound by the 14th Amendment.”  

“The question of federal power over citizenship in U.S. territories is not a partisan or ideological issue - it is one of fundamental rights in a democracy,” said Adi Martinez Roman, Co-Director of Right to Democracy and another of the attorneys on the amicus brief. “As the amicus brief we filed shows, leaders from U.S. territories are coming together to oppose these kinds of unilateral federal actions, whether they are Democrats or Republicans and whether they support Statehood, Independence, Free Association, or other status options.” 

“The legislation is also especially troubling because it seeks to unilaterally amend the citizenship provisions negotiated in the Northern Mariana Islands’ Covenant, which under Public Law 94-241 require ‘mutual consent,’ to change,” Martinez Roman added. “This is just the kind of federal action the Covenant was negotiated to prevent.”

“This legislation is a direct consequence of previous Presidents - both Republicans and Democrats – arguing in favor of a broad congressional power to deny citizenship to people born in U.S. territories despite the clear command of the Citizenship Clause. Too often, leaders in the territories have themselves remained silent on this issue. This is an eye-opening moment, and we will continue fighting to ensure constitutional limits on federal power apply in both States and Territories alike.”

Additional Information

• The proposed End Birthright Citizenship for Territories Act is available here and attached.

• The territorial officials’ amicus brief in Trump v. Barbara is available here and attached. 

• Here is an article by Neil Weare that appeared in SCOTUSblog with additional background on the history of the federal government claiming the power to deny citizenship to people born in overseas territories.

For more information, please contact Neil Weare at neil@righttodemocracy.us or 202-365-7427.

Right to Democracy brings together people across the political status spectrum to confront the undemocratic colonial framework governing the U.S. territories and advance a future grounded in democracy, equity, and self-determination.