The Secretary of State, several former presidential candidates and martial arts icon Bruce Lee all became American citizens at birth because of birthright citizenship, which the Supreme Court has now thrown into limbo.
On the first day back in office, President Donald Trump directed federal agencies not to recognize the citizenship of children born in the United States to parents in the country temporarily or without legal authorization – a move several judges quickly blocked nationwide.
On June 27, the Supreme Court lifted temporary blocks preventing Trump’s order from taking effect, but left it to lower courts to consider the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order. Whether Trump will ultimately be able to repeal the longstanding legal precedent that grants citizenship to all children born on American soil is unclear.
Here are some well-known actors and politicians who would not have been American citizens when they were born if birthright had not existed.
Marco Rubio
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 54, is the son of Cuban immigrants who did not become naturalized U.S. citizens until 1975, years after their son was born.
Rubio has previously said he does not agree with repealing birthright citizenship.
Diane Guerrero
Actress Diane Guerrero, who starred in the hit television show “Orange is the New Black,” was born to undocumented immigrants from Columbia who were deported when she was 14, she told NPR in 2019.
In an interview with the outlet, she said, “This is a country of immigrants. People forget – they like to forget that their ancestors came here with the same dream, with the same hopes, with the same fears. And it’s unfair to say that because people are coming later that they don’t deserve to be here.”
Nikki Haley
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2024, was born in South Carolina to immigrants from the Punjab region of India, according to her autobiography.
In 2015, she told The State news outlet that her parents were in the United States legally but did not become naturalized citizens until after her birth, and the non-partisan American Immigration Council considers her a U.S. citizen because of her place of birth.
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee, the martial arts icon who starred in films such as “Enter the Dragon” and “Fists of Fury,” was born in San Francisco while his parents were traveling with the Chinese Opera.
The National Archives notes that under birthright citizenship he was considered a citizen ‒ though he would not be under Trump’s revision to the law. “Lee’s parents filed for a Return Certificate on his behalf … enabling him to return to the United States if he later wished to do so. Lee did return at the age of 18 and grew into the iconic martial artist and film star known across the world.”
Kamala Harris
Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship may have been designed explicitly against his November rival for the presidency, former Vice President Kamala Harris.
David Bier, of the Libertarian Cato Institute, posted on X the day Trump signed the order: “As I predicted, Trump’s birthright citizenship EO includes a Kamala Harris clause, specifically designed to deny the legitimacy of her US citizenship as the child of someone with a temporary status.”
Trump’s order specifies that someone wouldn’t be entitled to birthright if their mother was on a temporary visa ‒ like the student visa Harris’ mother was on at the time of her birth ‒ and their father wasn’t a citizen, as hers wasn’t.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy, the tech billionaire and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, told NBC News in 2023 that his father never became a U.S. citizen and his mother only naturalized after he was born.
Ramaswamy, who Trump endorsed in next year’s Ohio gubernatorial race, has repeatedly called for an end to birthright citizenship.
Contributing: Maureen Groppe, Eduardo Cuevas, Sara Chernikoff, Ramon Padilla and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Without birthright citizenship, these celebs might not be Americans
