What was the reaction?<\/strong>
Given his reputation as a formidable linebacker for The Boss, when Jon expressed enthusiasm, I knew we were almost there. If Sony were to get a little queasy about using an iconic song like \u201cBorn in the U.S.A.\u201d as the centerpiece of an ad campaign about a politically charged issue, I figured Jon and Bruce would come to our aid. And once Landau showed enthusiasm, Brian Monaco [Sony\/ATV Music Publishing executive] became our champion and jumped on the phone with me immediately. The stars aligned, because everyone knew where Bruce Springsteen stood and understood the gravity of the moment.<\/p>\n\n\tThat turned out to be the easy part.\u00a0 The hard part was getting our case before the Supreme Court.\u00a0 There were additional lawsuits challenging Trump\u2019s executive order filed by other organizations, including governors and state attorneys general. Some of those other lawsuits were moving faster in other courts. By the time that we received the greenlight from Sony and Springsteen\u2019s camp, it was not clear which birthright citizenship case the Supreme Court would decide to consider.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWe ended up having to wait far longer than we initially anticipated. In fact, it was not until December 2025 that the Supreme Court announced they would take up our case and only our case. One of the most consequential cases before the Court in a hundred years would be argued by ACLU Legal Director Cecillia Wang. But it wasn\u2019t until this February that we knew when the Court would hear our argument.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe stars had aligned. We had the case. We had the rights to the song. We could seize the moment \u2014 but we needed to scramble. A year had passed since we filed our birthright citizenship lawsuit, and now we needed to produce a TV spot that was worthy of this song, this moment, and this important case.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWith the time pressure, we turned to our friends at CAA and asked for help getting us access to world-class directors. We wanted to produce a Super Bowl-caliber ad, but we had never done that before. Fortunately, CAA was able to introduce us to several top-notch firms. My ACLU colleagues vetted several firms. I interviewed the two finalists and selected Anderson Wright: an up-and-coming, award-winning director from Stink Films in February. In partnership with the Stink Films team, we sprinted to scout locations across Southern California, for a total of 13 shoots spanning five days.\u00a0 We had a total cast of over 115 individuals who appeared in our ad. The editing, the wardrobe, the sound mixing \u2014 of course \u2014 with a national anthem like \u201cBorn in the U.S.A.\u201d And the rest, as they say, is history\u2026<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat does the video aim to achieve?<\/strong>
We wanted viewers to see themselves and their neighbors as part of the fabric of this nation \u2014 one that would not be possible without birthright citizenship and the generations of Americans who have built this country up. The ad turns everyday moments into a triumphant celebration of America \u2014 people of all creeds, races, and backgrounds learning in classrooms, working on job sites, and celebrating family gatherings. Birthright citizenship is part of all our stories, and we wanted to remind the public that President Trump doesn\u2019t get to define who belongs here.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tWe want people to feel proud about being born in the U.S.A. We want them to feel that what\u2019s on the line is the character of our nation. We want people who don\u2019t pay attention to politics or the Supreme Court to take interest. And we want supporters of Donald Trump to stop and think about it, and say, \u201cYeah, this is going too far. We\u2019re all born in the U.S.A. We\u2019re all Americans. We\u2019re all proud of that. And we are proud of our neighbors who were born here\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat misunderstandings about birthright citizenship do you hope it corrects?<\/strong>
At a time when the Trump administration is trampling our Constitution, targeting activists, killing good folks like Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and demonizing people who are immigrants, we want this ad that will air nationwide to be a rallying cry. We want our win at the U.S. Supreme Court to be the inflection point. When we win this case and stop President Trump\u2019s executive order, we want that to be the moment when the pendulum stops and swings in the other direction. We want this nationwide campaign to create an environment where everyone stops, looks, and listens to what\u2019s going on. We want birthright citizenship to become a household word, and for folks to feel invested in the outcome of our case. Because it matters. A lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tEnding birthright citizenship would rip the fabric of this country. It would shred the pillar of the Constitution enshrined in the 14th Amendment. On a practical level, it would upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and create chaos for generations of families. We hope that when people see our ad campaign, they are reminded that each and every one of us make this country what it is, and that the video can serve as a rallying call to unite us all.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat makes \u201cBorn in the U.S.A.\u201d such a perfect song for the campaign?<\/strong>
\u201cBorn in the U.S.A.\u201d is one of the great American anthems. Everyone knows it. Everyone can sing it. It evokes strong feelings. When you listen to the lyrics, it tells the story of what it means to be abandoned by your country \u2014 and it\u2019s a cruel story too many immigrants are living right now.<\/p>\n\n\tThe song was released in 1984 as veterans were coming home from Vietnam, many feeling disillusioned and isolated in their own home. I was in college, in New Jersey no less, when it came out. I had gone to high school in New Jersey, and Bruce Springsteen was our guy. Our hero. Our Boss \u2014 quite literally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tI remember playing that song over and over in my college dorm room on my record player. I remember introducing my roommate from Kolkata to the song. He\u2019s now an American citizen. His kids were born in the U.S.A. And if Trump had his way, those kids (now my godchildren) wouldn\u2019t be American citizens. That\u2019s just one example of how this executive order is deeply personal for millions of people \u2014 even American citizens like me. While today\u2019s political context is different than the 1980s when it first came out, the resonance of the song\u2019s message has endured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tBruce Springsteen, himself, has said that \u201cBorn in the U.S.A.\u201d is both his most popular and most misunderstood song. You have a dark history juxtaposed with a patriotic melody, and this complexity is exactly what makes it a quintessentially American anthem. \u201cBorn in the U.S.A.\u201d perfectly captures the stakes of our birthright citizenship case. The peril and promise of the moment are embodied in this song. It is perfect for this case, for this moment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWhen he first wrote it, Springsteen wanted to wake people up. That\u2019s what we want to do today. We are being tested as a nation to protect our neighbors, our families, and our children. There\u2019s no more consequential test for the soul of our country than birthright citizenship. Our video invites audiences to hear the beloved melody of \u201cBorn in the U.S.A.\u201d while taking in the visual tapestry of Americans from all backgrounds rejoicing in their lives as Americans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tMy hope is that our campaign resonates with people from all walks of life and serves as a rallying cry for all of us to protect birthright citizenship.<\/p>\n
\n\tFrom my reading of the Constitution, the 14th Amendment pretty clearly grants citizenship to everyone born in America. How confident are you that a majority of justices will see it this way?\u00a0<\/strong>
The Constitution is clear on this: The president does not get to decide who is a citizen. That is not how it works. And every single court that has looked at this executive order so far has said the same thing and blocked it. That is not an accident. We have more than a century of Supreme Court precedent backing this up. Changing course now would break with both the Constitution and the way the courts have applied it for generations. It is part of the foundation of this country, and we expect the Justices to recognize that. I am sure we are going to win this case. It\u2019s too important, and I am confident that the Justices are going to see it the way we do.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the off-chance that the Supreme Court somehow rules against birthright citizenship, what\u2019s the next step in this battle?<\/strong>
We\u2019re confident that we will win this case, but we aren\u2019t letting our guard down. In the unlikely chance that we do not prevail; we have developed plans for further litigation and advocacy. We will cry for one day, and then we will also get to work to restore what we lost. The ACLU isn\u2019t going anywhere. We have been around for 106 years, and if it takes us another 106 years to restore birthright citizenship, if we lose, I know we will never let up. I might be dead, but the fight will continue and stay alive. For as long as it takes. Whatever it takes. We will fight this at every level, every step of the way. That\u2019s what the ACLU does.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\tI want folks to understand what losing would mean. Hundreds of thousands of babies born on American soil every year, with no citizenship, no legal identity, no real protections. Over time, that would mean creating a permanent underclass that grows with every generation. That outcome doesn\u2019t reflect our American values. It\u2019s not who we are or want to be as a country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On April 1, the United States Supreme Court will hear arguments in Trump v. Barbara, otherwise known as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":844612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5311],"tags":[25309,7627,49,978,659],"class_list":["post-844611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-aclu","tag-bruce-springsteen","tag-united-states","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116277766121942502","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}