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Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday introduced a constitutional amendment aimed at ending birthright citizenship, as the U.S. Supreme Court weighs a related case tied to President Donald Trump’s executive order on the issue.
Paul announced the proposal in a post on X, arguing that current interpretations of the 14th Amendment extend citizenship too broadly.
“I am introducing a Constitutional Amendment to end Birthright Citizenship. Under current interpretations of American law, anyone born on American soil automatically becomes a U.S. citizen, regardless of whether the parent was here legally or not,” he wrote. “This is wrong and not at all the intent of those who wrote the 14th Amendment. We are a country filled with immigrants, and legal immigration is valuable and should be protected.”
He added that stricter limits are needed.
“But we are also a country whose borders have been too open and our generosity exploited too often. President Trump has moved to seal our border from illegal immigrants more than any other president,” Paul said. “But we will have more to do. We need to make sure that only children born to legal residents of the U.S. are automatically citizens.”
Paul said he has long supported efforts to restrict birthright citizenship, noting he previously backed the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011.
“I have supported protecting birthright citizenship from abuse since the beginning of my tenure in the Senate … and now I am proposing an amendment to protect United States citizenship in case the Supreme Court fails to address this issue correctly,” he said.
The proposal faces long odds. Constitutional amendments require approval by two-thirds of both chambers of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states.
The Supreme Court has already heard oral arguments related to President Trump’s executive order seeking to reinterpret birthright citizenship, though it has not indicated when a decision will be issued.