Protesters gather outside the Anchorage Correctional Complex on June 11, 2025. It was the second consecutive day that protestors gathered at the jail site in response to Trump administration immigration actions. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
As President Donald Trump prepares an executive order that could end birthright citizenship for non-citizens having children in the United States, two unique federal laws could protect the citizenship rights of newborns in Alaska and Hawaii.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration may proceed with the implementation of his order in more than half of U.S. states.
Anchorage immigration attorney Margaret Stock noted over the weekend that when it comes to Alaska and Hawaii, the federal government would have to overcome special, state-specific laws if it wants to cancel birthright citizenship.
For Alaska, a federal law passed in 1952 states specifically that “A person born in Alaska on or after March 30, 1867, … is a citizen of the United States at birth.”
The same law, elsewhere, states that “A person born in Hawaii on or after April 30, 1900, is a citizen of the United States at birth.”
No other state has a specific law establishing birthright citizenship there.
Stock said she believes those laws protect the citizenship of children born in Alaska and Hawaii, but added that she has seen the federal government violate other immigration laws.
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