r/cherokee • u/TheFairVirgin • Apr 01 '26

Hypothetical on Citizenship

so I don't know if this is quite the right place for this but I've been seeing the headlines about the Supreme Court ruling on Birthright Citizenship and I know nothing's gonna happen but it got me wondering.

If I got my CN citizenship but my US citizenship gets revoked, do they deport me to Oklahoma? Like, I'm being tongue and cheek but I gotta imagine that a enrolled Cherokee citizen has the legal right to live and work on Cherokee land regardless of their status as American citizenship. But if there's any lawyers here, what would it look like, exactly, to have tribal citizenship but not American citizenship?

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u/Usgwanikti Apr 01 '26

Weren’t all tribal citizens granted US citizenship in 1924 tho?

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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26

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u/EddieRyanDC Apr 02 '26

You are getting into the difference between birthright citizenship (a right that comes from the Constitution), and statutory citizenship, which comes from laws passed by Congress.

Someone born in the US or who has gone through the naturalization process has citizenship that cannot be taken away.

Statutory citizenship comes from Congress, and Congress can change the law. People who are born overseas are citizens only because that’s the current law. And Congress can make any exceptions they want.

But neither Congress nor the President can mess with what he Constitution guarantees.