The Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens.
In the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court ruled that a child born on U.S. soil to non-citizen parents was a U.S. citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment.
A 2019 Pew Research Center analysis estimated that about 250,000 children were born in the United States to unauthorized immigrant parents in 2016, down from a peak of about 390,000 in 2007.
Supporters of ending birthright citizenship argue it acts as an incentive for illegal immigration; opponents argue it is a constitutional guarantee tied to post-Civil War civil rights protections.
Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of state legislatures, though some legal scholars argue Congress could redefine 'jurisdiction' by statute.