For many Indians who have long seen the United States as a land of opportunity, stability, and a secure future for their children, the “American Dream” is beginning to feel increasingly out of reach. The Donald Trump administration’s Executive Order 14160, issued on January 20, 2025, aims to end birthright citizenship for children born to non-citizen parents who are in the U.S. temporarily or without legal status. Under the order, any child born after February 19, 2025, to such parents would be denied automatic U.S. citizenship, despite the fact that for over a century, the Constitution’s 14th Amendment has guaranteed citizenship to anyone born on American soil, regardless of their parents’ nationality or immigration status.
While the policy has not gone into effect due to a series of legal challenges, the uncertainty it has unleashed is palpable. So far, four separate federal courts — in Washington, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire — have blocked the order through nationwide injunctions, with judges consistently finding it likely to be unconstitutional. The most recent ruling, issued on August 8 by Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland, came via a certified class action, ensuring that all similarly affected children nationwide remain protected for now. This class-action approach became necessary after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that broad nationwide injunctions were generally impermissible unless granted through such certified classes.
For Indian immigrant families, the implications are particularly unsettling. Indians form one of the largest and most successful immigrant groups in the U.S., often entering on high-skilled work visas like the H-1B. Traditionally, the birth of a child in the U.S. has been a moment of joy and relief, offering the child lifelong citizenship rights and access to opportunities. Now, many expectant parents — even those here legally — face anxiety about whether their newborns will be recognized as U.S. citizens in the long term. Even though birth certificates list place of birth and parental information, without specifying nationality, the fear is that future administrations could revoke or refuse to honor citizenship claims if the courts ultimately uphold the order.
Legally, the matter rests on the interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, which has been consistently upheld since the landmark 1898 Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark. This case established that nearly all children born on U.S. soil are citizens at birth, a principle known as jus soli (right of the soil). Trump’s order directly challenges that precedent, setting the stage for a potential constitutional showdown in the Supreme Court. Until such a ruling is made, however, the order remains blocked, and children born in the U.S. continue to receive citizenship under current law.
The broader concern is that, regardless of the final legal outcome, the mere attempt to change such a fundamental principle has shaken immigrant communities’ sense of security. For many Indians, who have built their lives in the U.S. based on the belief in fairness, equal opportunity, and constitutional stability, this uncertainty feels like a crack in the foundation of the American Dream. What was once a promise — that the U.S. would fully embrace their children as its own — is now caught in the crossfire of political agendas, leaving families unsure about their place in the only home their American-born children have ever known.