Key Takeaways
• EO 14156 could deny birthright citizenship to 255,000 newborns annually without citizen or green card holder parents.
• US unauthorized population may rise to 24 million by 2050, doubling current estimates, if the order is enforced.
• Federal courts blocked the executive order, but legal battles continue and birthright citizenship remains unchanged for now.
President Trump’s executive order (EO 14156), signed on January 20, 2025, brought the question of birthright citizenship to the center of public debate. The order, if enforced, would stop automatic citizenship for many children born on United States 🇺🇸 soil. Instead, only children whose parents are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents would automatically be citizens. This change to a long-standing rule has the potential to reshape the lives of millions of people—especially children—over the coming decades. This analysis explains the scope of the order, its likely effects on the nation’s population, public opinion, current legal battles, and the real impact it could have, based on reports by organizations such as the Migration Policy Institute and Pew Research Center.
What Is Birthright Citizenship and What Would Change?
Birthright citizenship refers to the rule that any child born in the United States 🇺🇸 is automatically a citizen, no matter what their parents’ immigration status is. This principle has been part of U.S. law for over 150 years and is often linked to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. President Trump’s executive order aims to change this by restricting automatic citizenship only to those children who have at least one parent who is already a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident (often called a “green card” holder). Children born to parents without authorized immigration status—sometimes called unauthorized immigrants—would not get U.S. citizenship simply by being born on U.S. soil.
The executive order’s language is clear: it targets automatic citizenship. If put into practice, this would overturn the way citizenship is granted to hundreds of thousands of babies born in the country each year. As reported by VisaVerge.com, this proposed change has stirred major controversy and court battles.
Projected Number of People Affected
The Migration Policy Institute’s research provides some of the clearest figures on how many people could be impacted. If birthright citizenship is narrowed as President Trump’s executive order suggests, the results would be dramatic and long-lasting.
- Each year, about 255,000 children are born in the United States 🇺🇸 who, under the current rules, become citizens at birth. Under the order, these children could be denied citizenship unless one of their parents is a citizen or green card holder. This means, every year, over a quarter of a million newborns might not gain automatic citizenship.
- Over the next 50 years, this would lead to millions of people in the United States 🇺🇸 who are not considered citizens at birth.
Unauthorized Population Growth
When discussing the unauthorized population, the order’s effects become even more visible:
- If children born to two unauthorized immigrants are denied citizenship, the unauthorized population in the United States 🇺🇸 would increase by about 4.7 million by the year 2050.
- The impact is even starker if children lose citizenship for being born to even one unauthorized parent. Under that stricter scenario, the unauthorized population could reach 24 million by 2050. This is more than double the current estimate of 11 million unauthorized people in the country.
- Of this group, one million children would be born in the United States 🇺🇸 to parents who themselves had also been born in the country, yet none of them would have automatic claim to citizenship.
These numbers demonstrate that rather than shrinking the unauthorized population, the policy could make it much larger, creating a cycle where more and more people live in the country without legal status.
Visual Representation: Chart Description
If charted, the first line on a graph would show the current unauthorized population, hovering at 11 million in 2025. The next line would sweep dramatically upward under the executive order, climbing toward either 16 million or a staggering 24 million over the next 25 years, depending on how the order is applied. It would clearly illustrate how changes in birthright citizenship rules have long-term, wide-ranging effects.
Who Would Be Most Affected?
Not all communities would feel these changes equally. The Migration Policy Institute’s review points out which groups could experience the greatest impact:
- Mexican and Central American families stand out, as they make up nearly three-quarters of the country’s unauthorized immigrants.
- Many of these families have mixed-status households, meaning some members have legal status while others do not. In these homes, children frequently have differing citizenship statuses from their parents or siblings.
In total, about 5.1 million children in the country today have parents who are unauthorized immigrants. Of these:
- 4.1 million have U.S. citizenship by birth.
- 100,000 have green cards.
- 900,000 are themselves unauthorized.
If the order were enforced, future generations of children born to parents without lawful status would not be citizens, growing the number of unauthorized youth. By 2050, the share of children under age 18 who lack legal status could double from its current 2% to 4%.
Table Description: Current Status of Children with Unauthorized Parents
Imagine a simple table divided into three columns: “Citizens at Birth,” “Green Card Holders,” and “Unauthorized.” The row labeled “Children of Unauthorized Parents” would show these figures: 4.1 million, 100,000, and 900,000, respectively. The highest number is in the citizen column, but under the executive order, future tables could see this number drop while the unauthorized column grows much larger over time.
Public Opinion Divided on the Executive Order
A new policy as sweeping as President Trump’s order quickly became a major public issue. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in February 2025:
- 56% of adults surveyed in the United States 🇺🇸 said they disapprove of the executive order.
- 43% said they approve of it.
The split shows that the nation is divided. More than half do not support the new policy, but a sizable portion of the public does.
The Order’s Legal Status: Blocked in Federal Courts
Since President Trump signed the order, it has faced tough opposition in courtrooms. Several federal judges reviewed the order and quickly placed holds on it. Judge John C. Coughenour in Washington State was the first to step in, temporarily blocking the order for 14 days just three days after it was signed. Soon after, Judge Deborah L. Boardman took stronger action, issuing a preliminary injunction on February 5, 2025. This means the order cannot take effect while court cases about its legality move forward. Judges have described the order as “blatantly unconstitutional.”
As a result, for now, birthright citizenship continues as before, and no child’s status has changed under the order. But the legal fight is not over, and the final result will depend on court decisions, possibly even from the U.S. Supreme Court. For readers wanting more information about citizenship rules and updates, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provides updated sections on birthright citizenship at their official Citizenship Resource Center.
What Does This Mean for the Future?
Although some believe ending birthright citizenship could reduce unauthorized immigration, research and projections tell a different story. Analysis from VisaVerge.com suggests that instead of shrinking the unauthorized population, the executive order would actually make it grow bigger and faster. The country would see more people, including many children, growing up without any legal connection to the place they call home. These children would face real challenges in getting education, health care, and jobs, and might be cut off from the whole social system.
It would also create what some call a “self-perpetuating class”—a group of people who, year after year and generation after generation, live in the United States 🇺🇸 but never gain full legal standing. This could result in serious problems for social harmony and stability. People without citizenship or legal status can face limits that others do not, and this can lead to poverty and exclusion.
Comparing Today and the Future
Looking back, it is clear that birthright citizenship has given stability to the lives of millions of children across the United States 🇺🇸. The 14th Amendment has been a pillar of national policy for over a century, helping children born in the country start life on an equal footing.
If EO 14156 takes effect, the population data would change over time like this:
- Now: Most children born in the country, no matter their parents’ status, are citizens.
- After the Order: Each year, hundreds of thousands of children may have no citizenship at all if their parents are unauthorized.
- By 2050: The unauthorized population could rise by millions, and as many as 24 million people may be living in the country without authorized status, including those born in the country.
This would be a major shift from the current legal and social reality, one that would likely affect schools, communities, and the workplace for years to come.
Factors Behind the Trends
Several factors help explain why the unauthorized population would grow under the executive order:
- No Path to Legal Status: Without birthright citizenship, children born in the United States 🇺🇸 to unauthorized parents would start life without any clear legal status. They would not automatically qualify for citizenship through their parents, and their only option would be to seek legal status through complicated and often slow immigration channels.
- Chain Effect: Over time, the number of people who are not citizens grows not only because more children are born without citizenship but also because their children would face the same situation. This results in a growing population with no easy path out of their unauthorized status.
- Barriers to Everyday Life: People without legal status often struggle to attend school, get a job, or access health care. These limits can hurt them and the communities around them.
- Regional Impact: Since most unauthorized immigrants in the United States 🇺🇸 are from Mexico 🇲🇽 and Central America, these families and their communities would bear the largest share of the impact.
Limitations and Biases in the Data
The numbers in this analysis come from respected sources, such as the Migration Policy Institute and Pew Research Center, but it is important to keep some things in mind:
- Estimating the size of the unauthorized population involves some guesswork, since not all people report their immigration status. This means actual numbers could be a bit higher or lower than reported.
- Changes in migration patterns, future government policy, and court decisions could change the timeline or size of the population affected.
- The impact of birthright citizenship rules can be different in different states or cities, depending on local immigrant communities and laws.
Methodology
The main sources for the numbers and projections in this review are published studies and reports. The Migration Policy Institute used population surveys, census data, and demographic modeling to estimate both current numbers and future scenarios. Pew Research Center’s figures are based on nationwide polling and surveys. The legal challenges are based on official court records.
Key Points and Looking Ahead
President Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship would have far-reaching consequences for children, families, and communities across the United States 🇺🇸. As the court battles continue, and as the public remains divided on the issue, the outcome will shape not only who is considered a citizen but also the future size and status of the unauthorized population for generations to come. For up-to-date information, interested readers should refer to USCIS’s official pages and trusted platforms like VisaVerge.com.
Whether or not the executive order survives the legal tests ahead, the discussion about birthright citizenship will remain central to debates over what it means to belong in the United States 🇺🇸, and how best to deal with the challenges and realities of immigration in the 21st century.
Learn Today
Birthright Citizenship → Legal principle granting U.S. citizenship to any child born on U.S. soil, regardless of parents’ status.
Executive Order (EO 14156) → A directive from President Trump restricting citizenship to children of U.S. citizens or green card holders.
Lawful Permanent Resident → An individual with authorization to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely; commonly called a ‘green card’ holder.
Unauthorized Immigrants → People living in the U.S. without legal immigration status; includes those who overstayed visas or entered unlawfully.
14th Amendment → Section of the U.S. Constitution that ensures citizenship for all born in the U.S., critical for birthright citizenship.
This Article in a Nutshell
President Trump’s EO 14156 targets birthright citizenship, potentially denying automatic citizen status to thousands of children born in the U.S. annually. Experts warn this could increase the unauthorized population sharply. Federal courts have halted enforcement, but the issue’s legal and social impact will shape the nation’s future.
— By VisaVerge.com
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