Who gets to be an American?

About this episode

On the first day of his second term as President, Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. whose parents are in the country illegally. The Trump Administration asserts that the children of noncitizens are not "subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" and therefore are not entitled to citizenship. But birthright citizenship is a Constitutional guarantee, explicitly laid out in the 14th Amendment. On this episode of <em>The Sunday Story, we </em>look at the origins of this right through a 1898 court case that would transform the life of one Chinese American and generations to follow. You can listen to the full episode from <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/02/06/1229439880/birthright-citizenship"target="_blank" >NPR's <em>Throughline</em> here</a> or wherever you listen to podcasts. <br/><br/>See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br/><br/><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>