By Elizabeth M. Klarin and Eileen M. Martin ( June 29, 2026, 11:27 AM EDT) -- In July 1868, when the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment was adopted into the Constitution of the United States, it declared: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.” While initially incorporated into the Constitution to overturn the Scott v. Sandford, 1856 U.S. LEXIS 472 decision and guarantee citizenship to formerly enslaved individuals, the Citizenship Clause has since become the foundation of birthright citizenship in the United States....