America started doing so at the end of the civil war. The constitution was amended then to overturn the Dred Scott decision of 1857, which held that black people were not Americans. The 14th Amendment ensured that freed slaves and their children would henceforth be citizens.

President Donald Trump has signed a number of executive orders his first day of office — including one which seeks to strip certain newborns of their U.S. citizenship, effectively going against an established constitutional right.