John Richardson – July 4, 2026
On June 30, 2026 the Supreme Court Of The United States released it’s decision in Trump v. Barbara. The complete decision can be read here:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-365_4hdj.pdf
A June 30, 2026 discussion (with initial impressions) is found in the Appendix to this post.
It starts with the 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. constitution starts with the following language:
Section 1
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 decision should be interpreted in a very minimal way as follows:
– Five justices (Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson and Barrett) interpreted the 14th Amendment (the words “and subject to the jurisdiction” notwithstanding) to mean that birth on U.S. soil is a sufficient condition for U.S. citizenship (the number of dissenting decisions means that there is a good chance that this issue will be revisited)
– Four justices (Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh) ruled that the 14th Amendment should NOT be interpreted to mean that birth on U.S. soil was a sufficient condition for U.S. citizenship
– Justice Alito in particular was very skeptical of those who were born in the USA but were also born as citizens of another country. Justice Alito begins his dissent with:
JUSTICE ALITO, dissenting.
This is one of the most important decisions in the history of the Court, and in my judgment, the Court has made a serious mistake. As interpreted by the Court today, the Fourteenth Amendment confers citizenship on virtually everyone who happens to be born in this country, including the children of “birth tourists,” women who come here solely for the purpose of giving birth to a child and then promptly return home. Careful analysis of the text of the Fourteenth Amendment and the process that led to its adoption shows that it does not degrade the concept of United States citizenship in this way. Instead, the Fourteenth Amendment confers citizenship on only those children who, at birth, owe allegiance solely to this country.
It is the inclusion of the words “owe allegiance solely to this country” with particular emphasis on the word “solely” that indicates the hostility toward “dual citizenship” at birth.
Yet, it is the combination of “birth on U.S. soil” coupled with being born as a citizen of another country that creates the most valuable form of U.S. citizenship!
America is taxation and taxation is America!
Yes, it’s the Internal Revenue Code that makes dual citizenship from birth so valuable. Under 877A(g)(1)(B)(i) an exemption to the Exit Tax rules is created for certain individuals who were born dual citizens. The specific text of the Internal Revenue Code which creates preferential treatment for dual citizens at birth is:
(i)the individual—
(I) became at birth a citizen of the United States and a citizen of another country and, as of the expatriation date, continues to be a citizen of, and is taxed as a resident of, such other country, and
(II) has been a resident of the United States (as defined in section 7701(b)(1)(A)(ii)) for not more than 10 taxable years during the 15-taxable year period ending with the taxable year during which the expatriation date occurs,
Those interested in a “deeper dive” might find this earlier post from this Citizenship Solutions blog interesting.
The narrow purpose of this post is to demonstrate that those who were born on U.S. soil as dual citizens from birth have a much higher standard of U.S. citizenship than those who were NOT born as dual citizens from birth. This is a shocking realization for a country that claims to have equality of citizenship. Because of the tax code, nothing could be further from the truth! The Internal Revenue Code generally (through complexity and exemptions) divides and conquers U.S. citizens. The United States is the only major country in the world that requires its citizens, who do NOT live in the country, to pay tax on their worldwide income to their country of citizenship.
In practical terms this means that:
– taxation is what distinguishes U.S. citizenship from other citizenships (If July 4 is considered to be a celebration of citizenship, then it should be considered to be a celebration of U.S. citizenship taxation);
– the only practical meaning of U.S. citizenship taxation is that the United States imposes direct taxation according to U.S. tax laws on (1) individuals who are tax residents of other countries and (2) on the non-U.S source income received by those individuals; and
– the United States imposes a more punitive form of taxation on U.S. citizens who live outside the United States than on U.S. citizens who live in the United States (PFIC, GILTI, Subpart F, phantom capital gains tax, FBAR, Form 8938, etc.)
(Incidentally those individuals are also subject to taxation in the countries where they reside.)
In short for U.S. citizens living outside the United States:
U.S. Citizenship = double taxation
A picture or chart is worth a thousand words
The following table will show why those “Born In The USA” and are ALSO born as citizens of another country are born as “preferred citizens”. Significantly they have both the right to NOT be stripped of U.S. citizenship AND the right to renounce U.S. citizenship without being subject to the 877A Exit Tax AND are not impacted by the 2801 “Covered Gift Tax” (meaning they are still permitted to make gifts and/or bequests to U.S. citizens.
Conclusion: The highest form of U.S. citizenship are U.S. citizens who were born with dual citizenship. Specifically those who (1) Became U.S. citizens by being “Born In The USA” and (2) were born as citizens of another country have a much higher standard of U.S. citizenship than any other level of U.S. citizenship. They cannot be stripped of their U.S. citizenship and they have the necessary condition required to expatriate without triggering the U.S.Internal Revenue Code 877A Exit tax or the U.S. Internal Revenue Code 2801 covered gift tax. This is the highest level of U.S. citizenship and is based ONLY on circumstances of birth.
The next level of U.S. citizenship is U.S. citizens born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent who were also born as citizens of another country – dual citizens from birth.
Bottom line: Dual citizenship from birth is extremely valuable. There is NO question that the citizens who Justice Alito finds the most objectionable are the ones who hold the highest level of U.S. citizenship!
Q. Is U.S. citizenship a “caste” system of citizenship?
A. Based on the definition of “caste” found here, it may very well be.
Significantly, what Justice Alito finds problematic (being born a citizen of another country) is precisely the most valuable form of U.S. citizenship.
Bottom line: Not all U.S. citizenship is the same!
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John Richardson – Follow me X at @Expatriationlaw
Appendix – Discussion of the Trump v. Barbara case on June 30, 2026