Preview: A Blowout for Birthright Citizenship at SCOTUS
Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts
Slate Audio
4.6 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 1 April 2026
⏱️ 5 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
This bonus episode of Amicus, with full access exclusive for Slate Plus members, is a comprehensive exploration of Wednesday’s arguments in the Trump v. Barbara case on birthright citizenship. This landmark case challenges the executive order aimed at denying citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders, potentially affecting millions of individuals born in the U.S.
Mark Joseph Stern talks to legal scholar Evan Bernick –– who co-authored a key amicus brief in this case –– about the Supreme Court’s reaction to Trump’s order to gut the 14th amendment of the constitution and remake the legal landscape surrounding citizenship. The stakes are high, and the implications reach far beyond the courtroom.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Amicus, Slate's podcast about the courts, the law, and the Supreme Court. |
| 0:06.8 | I'm Mark Joseph Stern. |
| 0:09.1 | Welcome to an extra episode of Amicus Plus that we're bringing to you as the dust settles on historic Supreme Court arguments in Trump v. Barbara, the birthright citizenship case. |
| 0:20.3 | If you credit the government's theory, the citizenship of millions of Americans, past, present, |
| 0:26.1 | and future could be called into question. |
| 0:28.9 | We're in a new world now, as Justice Alito pointed out to, where 8 billion people are one plane |
| 0:32.7 | right away from having a child as a U.S. citizen. |
| 0:35.8 | Well, it's a new world. |
| 0:36.6 | It's the same constitution. |
| 0:39.3 | Before we get into the details, let's just start with the top line. |
| 0:42.9 | This case is a challenge to Trump's executive order, denying birthright citizenship, |
| 0:47.2 | to children who are born in the United States, to parents who are undocumented immigrants |
| 0:52.9 | and temporary visa holders. |
| 0:55.0 | Every lower court has found that it violates the 14th Amendment citizenship clause, which |
| 0:59.7 | states all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction |
| 1:04.4 | thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. |
| 1:08.8 | Last term, the court had a chance to consider the executive order, but instead decided to |
| 1:14.2 | roll back nationwide injunctions. |
| 1:16.3 | We don't need to revisit that trauma because on Wednesday, the justices squarely addressed |
| 1:21.9 | the merits. |
| 1:22.9 | They did so with Trump in the room because he decided to become the first sitting president to attend |
| 1:29.7 | Supreme Court arguments in person, though he reportedly left after Solicitor General |
... |
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