Bates College Undergraduate Law Review
Abstract
This paper argues that President Trump’s 2025 executive order to end birthright citizenship represents a major break from constitutional tradition and a clear turn toward far-right ideology. The order challenges the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born on United States soil and has been upheld for more than a century, including in the Supreme Court case United States v. Wong Kim Ark. Although some conservatives may frame the action as a routine effort to strengthen immigration policy, the order moves beyond traditional conservatism. It departs from the rule of law, rejects long-standing legal precedent, and promotes an exclusionary national identity rooted in ethnonationalism. The paper outlines the key differences between conventional conservative thought and far-right ideology in order to show why this executive order aligns with the latter. It also examines the broader implications for democratic norms, citizenship, and executive power. The analysis concludes that Trump’s order is not a typical conservative policy. Instead, it is an unprecedented attempt to reshape American citizenship through executive authority and should be understood as a threat to established constitutional principles.
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Recommended Citation
MacCurtain, Rye
(2025)
"Trump vs. The Fourteenth Amendment,"
Bates College Undergraduate Law Review: Vol. 2:
Iss.
1, Article 6.
Available at:
https://scarab.bates.edu/bulr/vol2/iss1/6