Thinking about Elections

WHO CAN(NOT) VOTE : BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP. During WWII the US imprisoned people of Japanese ancestry. While confined some of these people gave birth to children. Although those children were born to declared enemies of the US, they were birthright American citizens. The fact that the US recognized their birthright citizenship even during the war is hugely significant. If birthright citizenship were constrained by the status of the parents, WWII was the time to show that, but it didn’t happen. Instead, the US government adhered tenaciously and without hesitation to the rule of birthright citizenship. This history and legal precedent undermine the current administration’s arguments against birthright citizenship. American citizenship conferred on a child born in the US is not dependent on their parents’ status.

SCOTUS will hear the birthright citizenship case on April 1. The amicus brief at the link was submitted to the court in defense of birthright citizenship. (It’s fascinating and easy to read. You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand it.) It presents evidence of birthright citizenship of three categories of parents held in custody on US soil during WWII: (1) children of government-identified enemy aliens; (2) children of second generation Japanese Americans born as US citizens who renounced their citizenship before the birth of their children; (3) children of people of Japanese ancestry who were involuntarily transported from their homes in Peru to the US where they were confined as illegal aliens to be used in prisoner exchanges. The brief gives an individual story for families in each of these categories.

Join me in writing to the US Supreme Court Justices and your elected reps to tell them about this history and what you think of it and birthright citizenship. Contact info at the links.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/contact/contactus.aspx

https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

https://hwglaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Muller-Brief-2026.02.24-FORMATTED.pdf