As constitutional turns of phrase go, the part of the Fourteenth Amendment that guarantees birthright citizenship seems more straightforward than most: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar has called the Citizenship Clause “one of the richest single sentences in the entire Constitution.” For once, the expert consensus matches the layman’s reading: if you’re born in the United States, you’re a citizen.

In January, however, President Trump issued an executive order decreeing that birthright citizenship would be restricted to the children of citizens and permanent residents. The order, which was quickly paused by multiple lega

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