Jus Soli: The Roots of Birthright Citizenship and the Hypocrisy of White Supremacy
Why Revoking Birthright Citizenship Might Finally Expose White Supremacy’s Greatest Lie
I woke up this morning and chose violence at 4:18 am EST. As I am looking at the laws our current President is breaking (I mean revoking) I begin to question could his level of hubris actually bring us to a place of true diversity, equity, and inclusion by forcing us to have real conversations and question the many unspoken (by white US Americans) laws and treaties and legal frameworks of the business we call America. So I got up, washed my face, brushed my teeth, made me tea (said in me cutest Irish Brogue), and began writing… after posting, of course
So take a breath, drink water, and move your body
Let us begin with an uncomfortable truth: If birthright citizenship were abolished, who would truly be “illegal”? Whose presence on this land is justified, and whose is a violation of sovereignty? When we strip away the colonial rhetoric, the answer becomes clear—white Americans, the self-proclaimed architects of this nation, are the original “anchor babies” of Turtle Island.
Black Liberation: The Laws That Made It Safe for All
If jus soli is the battleground, the 14th Amendment is its most significant weapon. Born out of the need to protect Black Americans after the Civil War, the amendment granted citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. This was not a gift; it was a demand for justice, born from the horrors of slavery and the systemic denial of humanity.
And yet, the very law created to protect Black bodies also provided a shield for all who came after—white immigrants included. It is laws like these, rooted in Black liberation struggles, that have made it possible for other communities to claim safety and belonging on this land. Without the fight for Black citizenship, the framework for inclusive belonging would not exist.
The irony is stark: the descendants of those who most benefited from this protection now seek to dismantle it, wielding the term “anchor babies” as a weapon against immigrant families while conveniently ignoring their own history.
Jus Soli: The Roots of Birthright Citizenship, Turtle Island, and the White Supremacy Delusion
Birthright citizenship, rooted in the principle of jus soli—Latin for “right of the soil”—is a cornerstone of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It guarantees that anyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen, regardless of the status of their parents. Enacted in 1868, this principle aimed to rectify the atrocities of slavery and ensure citizenship for Black Americans following the Civil War. Today, however, jus soli is under attack, largely driven by xenophobic narratives targeting immigrant communities.
But let’s pause and ask: If birthright citizenship were abolished, who would truly be "illegal"? Whose land are we even standing on? The answer reveals the glaring hypocrisy and dissonance of white supremacy, a delusion that has shaped laws, policies, and even the definition of citizenship on Turtle Island—land stolen from its original caretakers, the Indigenous peoples.
The Origins of Jus Soli and the Exclusion of Indigenous Peoples
The principle of jus soli in the United States draws from English common law, which states anyone born on English soil was SUBJECTS to the crown. Yet, like so many colonial imports, this principle was selectively applied. While white European settlers freely benefited from birthright citizenship, Indigenous peoples—whose ancestors lived on this land for millennia—were excluded. It wasn’t until 1924, with the Indian Citizenship Act, that Native Americans were granted U.S. citizenship, and even then, it was framed as a colonial tool to assimilate them into settler society.
The 14th Amendment, though revolutionary in securing citizenship for formerly enslaved people, still fell short of addressing the ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples. In this way, jus soli became a double-edged sword: a progressive ideal in theory, yet deeply exclusionary in practice.
White Supremacy’s War on Jus Soli
Calls to dismantle birthright citizenship are nothing new, but they’ve gained traction in recent years as part of a broader white supremacist agenda to restrict immigration and maintain power. The rhetoric often centers on so-called “anchor babies,” vilifying immigrant families while conveniently ignoring the fact that white Europeans once migrated here without permission, documents, or even acknowledgment of the Indigenous nations they displaced.
The truth is, if jus soli were retroactively abolished, the vast majority of white Americans would find themselves “illegal” on this land. Their ancestors arrived uninvited, enacted violent colonization, and created systems of governance on land they had no right to claim. Yet, these same descendants now seek to deny others the basic right of belonging.
White Supremacy’s Original Anchor Babies
Let us confront the term “anchor baby,” a slur wielded against immigrant children born on U.S. soil. It implies that their birth serves as a foothold, a claim to rights and resources they are not “entitled” to. But if we are to take this concept seriously, we must apply it to the descendants of European settlers.