Could Trump's Policy Have Altered This Star's World Cup Journey?
Folarin Balogun, the U.S. men's national soccer team's (USMNT) star forward who scored twice in the U.S.’s World Cup 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday, is a United States citizen by birth, a constitutional right that President Donald Trump is seeking to end in his second term.Balogun is the first U.S. men’s player to score more than one goal in a World Cup match since the 1930 tournament.Trump, who praised the USMNT's victory on Truth Social on Saturday, has also used the World Cup to highlight his immigration policies. The tournament has been marked by visa disputes, including the denial of entry to a Somali referee, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, while the ongoing war with Iran complicated visas and travel for Tehran's team, who are training in Mexico and commuting to matches in the U.S....Who Is Folarin Balogun?Balogun is a 24-year-old forward who joined Arsenal’s academy in England at 8-years-old. He rose up through the program and permanently joined AS Monaco in August 2023.He was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 2001 while his mother was temporarily visiting in the U.S., which made him automatically a U.S. citizen under the 14th Amendment. The status allows him to represent the USMNT during the World Cup.Raised in England by Nigerian parents after leaving the U.S. at just one month old, Balogun is eligible to represent three countries, England, Nigeria and the U.S. in the World Cup. He opted to play for USMNT in 2023 after participating in a training camp in Florida.In a July 2023 X post, he announced his decision, sharing a photo of him draped in the American flag and wrote: “So proud to be apart of this! It has been a long journey to reach this point but it is with great Pride I can now represent these colours at the highest level. I am tied-in and fully committed!”On Friday night, he scored two goals for the U.S. against Paraguay in the team’s first showing this World Cup. “I visualized my debut in the World Cup scoring, but the reality did surpass that,” Balogun said Friday. “A very dreamy night.”Online users, including sports fans and immigration attorneys, have flagged that Balogun is only eligible to play on the team due to birthright citizenship. Greg Siskind, an immigration attorney and co-founder of Visalaw.ai, wrote in an X post Friday night, "A reminder that Flo Balogun would not be on the US Men's National Team if Trump's birthright citizenship order was in place when he was born in NY. The first US man to score more than one goal in a World Cup match since the very first World Cup in 1930."British journalist and author Robert Peston wrote on X on Saturday: "America’s World Cup hero of last night, Folarin Balogun, is only allowed to play for the US national team because his heavily pregnant Nigerian mother was refused permission by US airlines to fly to the UK, and so the first two months of his life were - by accident - in Brooklyn. It is pretty much inconceivable that if Trump’s immigration enforcement had been in place that Balogun would have been permitted to be born in America. Draw your own conclusions."...What Is Birthright Citizenship? In the U.S., birthright citizenship, which gives U.S. citizenship to all children born in the country, became part of the nation’s Constitution in 1868. Section 1 of the 14th Amendment states: "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 14th Amendment does not require a child's parents to be U.S. citizens.Trump's Case Against Birthright Citizenship Trump targeted birthright citizenship on the very first day of his second term, issuing an executive order banning it moving forward, and arguing that the related section of the Constitution was outdated. Citizenship would only be granted to a newborn child if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, under Trump's order.Trump's order was met with multiple lawsuits, and courts have prevented it from taking effect so far.In April, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that centers around Trump's January 2025 executive order about birthright citizenship. During the arguments, several justices on both sides of the political aisle expressed skepticism about the administration’s attempt to narrow birthright citizenship.Chief Justice John Roberts questioned whether the government’s reliance on narrow historical exceptions could realistically be expanded to cover broad categories of immigrants, describing some examples as “very quirky," according to an Axios report.He also dismissed Solicitor General D. John Sauer's concerns about it being a "new world" where global travel had made it easier for people to come to the U.S. to have children, per a Time report. Roberts responded that it's "the same Constitution."Other justices including Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, questioned the historical and legal basis for narrowing birthright citizenship, pointing to gaps in the government’s reasoning....Meanwhile, the court’s upcoming ruling could redefine a core constitutional principle tied to immigration and citizenship. Legal experts also say the outcome may help determine how far presidents can go in using executive authority to reinterpret existing law and constitutional protections.More than a quarter of a million babies born in the U.S. each year would be affected by the order, according to research by the Migration Policy Institute and Penn State University's Population Research Institute.The court will rule on the matter before it ends its term, with a decision expected sometime in late June.In late May, Trump wrote in post on Truth Social that the court system was "RIGGED, no different than our Political System is RIGGED, and the people of our Country know it, and that is why I got overwhelmingly elected President, in Record Numbers, and will FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!"