After 250 years, America’s highest institutions cannot define what it means to be an American. Last week, the Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship, holding that the Constitution grants citizenship to all children born on American soil. The backlash was swift and severe, with conservatives calling the decision the next Roe v. Wade. Much like Roe, the uniting principle against the case is not the legal reasoning, but the deeper proposition it stands for. The title “American” holds a particular meaning, one that has historically had more limitations than mere birth.
Barbara crystallizes America’s identity crisis. Vice President JD Vance summarized this crisis well in his speech last year before the Claremont Institute: “If you ask yourself in 2025 what an American is, I hate to say it, very few of our leaders actually have a good answer.” Everyone can agree, however, that the definition of American is closely tied to citizenship. As I…
