The United States marked the 157th anniversary of the 14th Amendment on 9 July, prompting a wave of statements from Democratic lawmakers who underscored the amendment’s promises of birth-right citizenship, due process and equal protection. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Tina Smith and more than a dozen House members said the amendment remains a bulwark against efforts to narrow citizenship rights, noting that it was adopted in 1868 to extend full citizenship to formerly enslaved people. The renewed emphasis comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birth-right citizenship through an executive order issued on his first day in office. The order would deny automatic citizenship to U.S.-born children unless a parent is already a citizen or lawful permanent resident—a move critics say contradicts more than a century of Supreme Court precedent interpreting the 14th Amendment. On 2 July, the Supreme Court partially stayed nationwide injunctions that had blocked enforcement of Trump’s order, ruling that lower courts had exceeded their authority by extending relief beyond named plaintiffs. While the justices did not address the constitutionality of the policy, the decision allows litigation to proceed on a case-by-case basis and has raised concerns that children of immigrants could face new challenges to their citizenship in multiple states. Democratic lawmakers used the anniversary to pledge continued opposition to the order and to advocate for federal protections that would keep the amendment’s guarantees intact. Civil-rights groups likewise warned that the administration’s approach threatens a core element of American identity, even as the ultimate fate of the executive order remains in the courts.