Well do they? Many claim the 14th Amendment of the Constitution guarantees it.
The opening sentence of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the UnitedStates, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein theyreside.”
This clause was primarily intended to overturn the Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (1857), which denied citizenship to Black Americans, including freed slaves, and to ensure citizenship for their descendants post-Civil War.
The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is not merely redundant with being “born… in the United States” (which would imply simple territorial presence subjecting one to U.S. laws). Instead, it has been understood as a deliberate qualifier to exclude certain individuals from automatic birthright citizenship.
Amy Swearer, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, tackles this constitutional debate head-on.