Can Trump Undo Our Citizenship Rights? (with ACLU’s Cecilia Wang)
The Oath and The Office
Corey Brettschneider
4.9 • 591 Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Then, they turn to citizenship itself: DOJ support for stripping citizenship from naturalized citizens and Trump’s attacks on his own Supreme Court justices.
Corey then speaks with Cecilia Wang, National Legal Director of the ACLU, who argued before the Supreme Court against Trump’s executive order attacking birthright citizenship, with Trump himself watching from the courtroom. Wang explains why the text and history of the Fourteenth Amendment are on her side, how Reconstruction transformed the Constitution, and why the fight over citizenship is part of the larger battle for voting rights, civil liberties, and democracy itself.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Oath and the Office podcast. I'm John Fugles saying we've got a packed one this week, redistricting. The mask comes off and there's a hood underneath. |
| 0:20.3 | John Roberts in the Dirty |
| 0:21.3 | Six unleash a wave of rabidly racist gerrymandering, an attack on democracy like we've never |
| 0:26.9 | seen. Not to be outdone. The DOJ has a new push to start stripping citizenship, and Trump's |
| 0:32.8 | attacking his own judges. Plus, to special guests, Cecilia Wang, legal director at the ACLU, who argued |
| 0:38.9 | the birthright citizenship case before the court. So let's bring in the star of our podcast, |
| 0:44.2 | the author of The Oath and the Office, Professor Corey Brechtnider. It's good to see you, sir. |
| 0:49.6 | Thanks so much, John. I look forward to this every week. And, you know, this is really an amazing episode, |
| 0:55.7 | one that speaks to the core of why we started this show in the first place. Trump's assault |
| 1:01.5 | on birthright citizenship, his attempt to reverse the 14th Amendment first section, |
| 1:07.5 | guaranteeing birthright citizenship. You're born in the United States. You're a citizen. |
| 1:28.1 | One of his most blatant attacks on the Constitution. And so to have an episode in which we're going to be joined by the person who argued the case, and it wasn't just any argument, it really was a superb argument. You'll hear really how brilliant this person is, Cecilia Wang, this amazing lawyer. So we have a lot to talk about, of course, |
| 1:32.5 | the attack on our voting rights. And, you know, what's at stake in birthright citizenship is not just about non-citizens being denied citizenship, but also the wider issue we'll speak to |
| 1:38.8 | about this idea that the Trump administration is actually trying to take away citizenship from |
| 1:43.0 | those who already have it. |
| 1:44.8 | That is correct. That is part of the goal. And we have a lot to unpack. So let's dive into it, |
| 1:50.0 | Corey. Of course, to nobody's surprise, as soon as the Supreme Court told the states that they can |
| 1:56.9 | go ahead and gerrymander their districts any way they want. As long as it's not based, |
| 2:01.5 | you know, on color, as long as it's not to redress historic and, yeah, as long as it's not to |
| 2:08.8 | address historic injustices, but just perpetuate new ones have at it and we have seen a |
| 2:14.9 | feeding frenzy, particularly among the former Confederate states. |
| 2:19.5 | Republican Party is 90% white. African Americans vote for Democrats at about 85% minimum. And it |
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