The Story Behind the Executive Order

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Dear Friend,

Just after the 2024 presidential election, I stated that the Trump administration offered a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to reassert American principles. I also noted that Claremont was uniquely prepared to help the new administration seize the moment because of decades of groundbreaking scholarship by our Senior Fellows and the cultivation of leaders through our educational fellowship programs.

After President Trump’s first energetic week in office, I wanted to take a moment to connect Claremont’s scholarship of the politics of freedom to a crucial policy question about the meaning of citizenship and the American way of life.

Ending So-Called “Birthright Citizenship”—The Story Behind the Executive Order

On his first day in office, President Trump signed Executive Order 14156, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship ([link removed] ) .” The President deserves great credit for taking this bold step. During his campaign, he indicated it was “common sense” that we can’t reward illegal actions with citizenship if we want to have a country.

But even presidents need help to carry out such “common sense” actions and make them stick—especially when critics claim “birthright citizenship” is “settled law.” But without The Claremont Institute's scholarship on this issue, it’s fair to say that this executive order would not have been possible.

- Beginning well over 20 years ago, Claremont Senior Fellow Edward Erler’s scholarship on the 14th Amendment—including the post-Civil War congressional debates leading up to its ratification—demonstrated that the intent of the amendment was to protect the rights of freed slaves and undo the pernicious effects of the Supreme Court’s incorrect Dred Scott v. Sandford decision of 1857.

Together with other Claremont scholars, including John Eastman, John Marini, and Tom West, Erler further argued that the Amendment’s opening citizenship clause, and especially the key phrase—“persons born…in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof”—showed that the amendment was not intended to confer citizenship on the children of persons coming to the United States illegally or those merely passing through temporarily. The Declaration of Independence, and its principle of consent of the governed, offered the key to the 14th Amendment’s meaning, rather than decades of faulty government practice or erroneous judicial precedents.

- Armed with our principled historical and legal scholarship to defend the order against the legal challenges that were sure to come, President Trump issued the order within hours of taking office. The President’s courage last week was the first step on the path to returning to founding principles and reestablishing a proper understanding of the meaning of American citizenship.

Of course, I’ve left one important player out of this multi-decade backstory.

You.

This was an achievement that we trust will be pivotal in America’s history. By supporting Claremont’s mission and work, you’ve played an essential part in protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship.

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I am grateful for your steadfast faith in and support of our mission in these turbulent times. When the “establishment” right was denouncing MAGA and all things Trump, Claremont was nearly alone in daring to say that there were virtues to appreciate in both the movement and the man. We took heat for a long time, but your consistent support and encouragement helped us stand by our convictions with good cheer and rise to new heights as intellectual leaders of the Right. Now it’s a new day, and we are moving forward in strength to restore the American way of life.

I’m out of space to tell you about the dozens—or maybe more, since the numbers continue to grow—of our Alumni Fellows going into positions of responsibility in the White House, the State Department, the Department of Education, and throughout the Executive Branch. But I will soon.

With legal challenges to E.O. 14156 already launched, there’s still a lot of work ahead. But President Trump has put our scholarship into action. We will work with him to defend it.

To begin this defense, we will be hosting two Virtual Briefings with Claremont scholars to discuss the history of birthright citizenship and the legal case for President Trump's executive order.

Edward Erler and John Eastman will join me for these Virtual Briefings on February 4 and February 12 to address these issues in greater detail. Details are below. I hope you can join us!

Birthright Citizenship I: Founding Principles & the 14th Amendment (Dr. Edward Erler)

- Time: February 4, 2025, 5:30 PM Pacific
- Registration link address: [link removed] ([link removed] )

Birthright Citizenship II: Trump’s Executive Order & The Supreme Court (Dr. John Eastman)

- Time: February 12, 2025, 5:30 PM Pacific
- Registration link address: [link removed] ([link removed] )

We expect many more consequential steps on the path back to constitutionalism in the weeks, months, and years to come. I look forward to keeping you informed of our vital work of putting principles into practice in service of an American restoration. As President Trump put it in his second inaugural address, we’ll all pursue this restoration “with courage, vigor, and the vitality of history’s greatest civilization.”

Keep up the good fight!

Warmly,

Ryan Williams

President, The Claremont Institute

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The mission of the Claremont Institute is to restore the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life.

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