Statement by Chris James on Birthright Citizenship Oral Arguments at the Supreme Court Today

Gilbert, AZ — April 1, 2026

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Gilbert, AZ — Chris James issued the following statement on the oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara at the Supreme Court today, in which the Solicitor General John Sauer (representing the Trump Administration and defending his Executive Order) wasn’t sure whether Native Americans should be considered birthright citizens:  

“Are Native Americans birthright citizens of the United States? Solicitor General John Sauer said he ‘thinks so’ but that he’s ‘not sure’ and that he has ‘to think that through.’ That tells you everything you need to know about Donald Trump’s effort to end the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship on his own, with the stroke of a pen. It’s wrong, and it’s clearly an attempt to exclude broad swaths of people from exercising their rights as Americans or, worse yet, to create a permanent subclass with limited rights. It took nearly 60 years from the ratification of the 14th Amendment to the 1924 law that clarified that Native and Indigenous people born within the territorial limits of the United States are citizens. Threatening our citizenship is outrageous and an example of the extremism coming from Washington that people are tired of. Combined with their attempts to nationalize elections, these are all coordinated movements to try to limit which Americans can participate in our democracy. The Supreme Court sounded skeptical today, and the American people would be well served by a strong rebuke of this attempt to rig our very basic identity as Americans. Leave birthright citizenship alone.”

— Chris James