Birthright Citizenship Under Threat: What Monica De La Cruz’s Support Means for the Rio Grande Valley

As the Supreme Court allows Trump’s birthright order to take effect in parts of the country, South Texas faces a crisis — and its representative supports the policy behind it.

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“For now, children in the Rio Grande Valley are more vulnerable than ever — not because they were born in another country, but because they were born to the wrong parents under the wrong administration.”

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South Texas Republican leaders are regretting Trump's immigration policies.

The Supreme Court recently issued an opinion limiting the scope of nationwide injunctions in the case related to President Trump's birthright citizenship order. The ruling, issued today, June 27, 2025, does not directly address the legality of the policy itself — but it does impact how lower courts can block it across the country. The Court’s decision allows the order to take effect in some states, including Texas, while lower courts reconsider their rulings.

This opens the door for President Trump’s executive order, which seeks to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the country to non-citizen parents, to be enforced in parts of the country — starting with red states.

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A Brief History of Birthright Citizenship

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1868, guarantees that:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

This language was a direct response to the Dred Scott decision, which had denied citizenship to Black Americans. For over 150 years, the Amendment has protected the rights of all children born on U.S. soil — regardless of their parents’ status.

In United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), the Supreme Court affirmed that a child born in the U.S. to Chinese immigrant parents was a U.S. citizen. That ruling has stood as the foundation of birthright citizenship ever since.

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What the Court Did — and Didn’t Do

The ruling did not decide whether Trump’s executive order is constitutional. Instead, the justices ruled that lower federal courts cannot issue sweeping, nationwide injunctions that block federal policies everywhere. That technicality now has real consequences: the executive order can begin taking effect in Texas and other Republican-led states.

Birthright citizenship is still protected in states like Colorado and California, where injunctions remain. But in Texas, children born today in places like McAllen, Edinburg, or Brownsville may be denied birth certificates or legal recognition — even if they were born in a U.S. hospital.

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What This Means for the Rio Grande Valley

The Rio Grande Valley is home to thousands of families who could be directly impacted. Many children here are born to undocumented or mixed-status parents. Under the 14th Amendment, they have always been recognized as American citizens.

But that is no longer guaranteed.

If state or local officials follow Trump’s order, these children could face:

• Delayed or denied birth certificates

• Legal limbo or statelessness

• Barriers to education, healthcare, travel, and work

This is not just a bureaucratic problem — it’s a civil rights crisis, unfolding in real time.

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