Source: Politics<\/p>\n
In 2001, airline employees stopped a seven-months pregnant Florence Balogun from traveling home to London, deeming her too pregnant to fly. She stayed in New York, where she was visiting, eventually giving birth to a son, Folarin, before returning to London.<\/p>\n
Twenty-five years later, Folarin Balogun has attracted global notice as a rising soccer star. Despite training in Arsenal\u2019s youth academy and spending much of his career playing for England\u2019s youth teams, Balogun \u2014 legally an American citizen, thanks to his Brooklyn birth \u2014 has emerged as a key contributor to the U.S. team\u2019s attack at this year\u2019s World Cup. The striker scored two goals in America\u2019s opener against Paraguay last Friday, hoisting his team to a record-breaking 4-1 victory, the most goals the U.S. men\u2019s team has ever scored in a World Cup game.<\/p>\n
While Balogun\u2019s performance has fueled fresh hopes about America\u2019s World Cup prospects, he\u2019s also found himself in the middle of America\u2019s ongoing birthright citizenship debate.<\/p>\n
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order overturning the country\u2019s long-standing birthright citizenship practice. The American Civil Liberties Union then sued to block the move, taking their legal battle to the Supreme Court. The court is expected to issue a final ruling soon \u2014 though it seems \u201cbroadly skeptical\u201d of Trump\u2019s<\/a> effort.<\/p>\n \u201cThe executive order itself doesn\u2019t claim to strip away [Balogun\u2019s] citizenship or or the citizenship of other people born before [Feb. 19, 2025],\u201d Cody Wofsy, the lead lawyer in the ACLU\u2019s case, told POLITICO. \u201cBut the constitutional theory that the government is asking the Supreme Court to adopt casts a shadow over the citizenship of millions and millions of people who were born in this country and have lived their entire lives as citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n Examples of high-profile birthright citizens \u2014 like Balogun, but also politicians such as Kamala Harris and Marco Rubio \u2014 help illustrate the reality of banning birthright citizenship, Wofsy said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know what the justices are thinking,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I would hope that they understand just how grave an action the government\u2019s asking them for.\u201d<\/p>\n