LETTER: On birthright citizenship

Home >> Opinion >> Letters Peter D. Kinsley Las Vegas July 12, 2026 - 9:00 pm With all of the talk about birthright citizenship lately, I have a question. If the 14th Amendment has always been interpreted as guaranteeing everyone born in the United States is a U.S. citizen, why did it take the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 to make the very first people born here citizens? The 14th Amendment was clearly meant to apply to slaves and former slaves, not hordes of illegal immigrants’ children.