Bruce Springsteen has lent one of his most iconic singles to the American Civil Liberties Union‘s campaign to uphold birthright citizenship, as the Trump administration attempts to strip the Constitution of this fundamental right.
President Donald Trump launched an attack against the 14th Amendment hours after he assumed office in January 2025, signing an Executive Order that would put an end to automatic citizenship upon birth in the U.S. The order sparked widespread outrage from Democratic members of Congress, lawmakers, America’s Roman Catholic bishops, and activists alike. The administration is poised to fight a class-action lawsuit, Barbara v. Trump, against the ACLU and its partners in the Supreme Court beginning on April 1.
Days before the case will be heard, the ACLU released a poignant, 60-second video campaign set to the tune of Springsteen’s 1984 hit “Born in the U.S.A.” The song tells the story of a Vietnam veteran returning to America and has often been mistaken for a call to patriotism. Instead, as Springsteen himself has clarified, the song’s lyrics are a cry for peace.
The legendary singer and outspoken political figure authorized the use of his single for the campaign, released Monday. In ACLU’s ad, Springsteen’s single is set against footage from everyday America: people in classrooms, workplaces, diners, and their homes.
“Born in the U.S.A.” is the perfect song to capture what’s at stake in this Supreme Court case and how birthright citizenship is integral to America," Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the ACLU, tells Rolling Stone. “The song calls on our nation to live up to its ideals.”
Romero, the longest-serving director of the ACLU, said that Springsteen’s chart-topping song “tells the story of what it means to be abandoned by your country.”
“It’s a cruel story too many immigrants are living right now,” he said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
“We want people to feel proud about being born in the U.S.A.,” says Romero. “We want them to feel that what’s on the line is the character of our nation.” He added that the campaign was shaped to become a “rallying cry” for Americans across the country, as a reminder that overturning the 14th Amendment “would rip the fabric of this country.”
Americans widely condemn the prospect of overturning birthright citizenship, with over 56 percent of U.S. adults disapproving of the executive order, according to a February 2025 Pew Research poll. 40 percent of this faction strongly disapproves.
Springsteen, 76, has used both his platform and his art to fight against Donald Trump since Trump’s first presidency, drawing the president’s ire on multiple occasions. When announcing the American leg of his “Land of Hope and Dreams Tour,” Springsteen said the American dream and the country’s ideals of freedom “are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C.”
The rocker called Trump’s crackdown on immigrants “disgusting, and a terrible tragedy,” and labeled the president a “moron” in an interview with the New York Times last June.
He synthesized his distaste for the president and his policies in a January 2026 political anthem, “Streets of Minneapolis,” in which he decried the deaths of American citizens Alex Pretti and Renée Good at the hands of federal agents.
The president has attempted to fire back at Springsteen publicly, ranting on Truth Social last May, “Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK."
Romero praised the 20-time Grammy-winner for his outspoken position on politics and for “speaking truth to power.” He shared with Rolling Stone that he knew the inclusion of Springsteen’s song in the ACLU’s campaign would ”resonate with and galvanize the public to join our efforts."
“The peril and promise of the moment are embodied in this song. It is perfect for this case, for this moment,” he explained. “When he first wrote it, Springsteen wanted to wake people up. That’s what we want to do today.”
