US Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship in blow to Trump

Supreme Court Affirms Birthright Citizenship Under 14th Amendment in Challenge to Executive Order

The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals born in the United States have a constitutional right to citizenship, rejecting an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that sought to limit the policy. In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that children born in the US "to parents unlawfully or temporarily present" are "citizens at birth" under the 14th Amendment.

President Trump had issued the order to restrict birthright citizenship, contending that the children of individuals present unlawfully and some temporary visitors were not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" and therefore ineligible. The court held that the order violates the 14th Amendment. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote separately that the order also contravenes federal law.

On Truth Social, President Trump described the decision as "too bad" and stated his intention to pursue legislation to end birthright citizenship. "No long and unwieldy constitutional amendment is necessary," he said. "Congress should today start work on ending expensive, and unfair to our country, birthright citizenship."

The United States has granted citizenship to those born on its territory since 1868 under the 14th Amendment, which states that "all persons born or naturalised, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." The amendment was enacted after the Civil War and originally addressed the status of formerly enslaved people. Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the majority opinion that "Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights - to freely participate in our political community." He added that the framers extended the promise to "every free-born person in this land" and that the court keeps that promise today.

Three justices dissented: Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito. Justice Thomas argued that the 14th Amendment was being "repurposed for political projects" and that the freed slaves it originally addressed "were Americans" with no allegiance to other countries. Justice Alito called the ruling a "serious mistake" that "confers citizenship on virtually anyone who happens to be born in this country," including those who enter the United States specifically to give birth before returning to their country of origin.

The case drew significant attention from the Trump administration. President Trump attended oral arguments at the court in April. White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller stated on X that the decision was "one of the most destructive and outrageous decisions" in the Supreme Court's history. "American citizenship is not the birthright of the world," Miller said. "No provision of the Constitution can be read to require our national self-obliteration."

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the court "finally affirmed that all persons born in the United States are American citizens" by applying the law and the Constitution. "There is, and shall be, no question," Jeffries said. Dariely Rodriguez, chief counsel at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, stated that the ruling "solidifies what we have known to be true for over a hundred years." "Anyone born on American soil, regardless of the legal status of their parents, is born an American citizen," she added. "We have endured an incredible test of our collective will as a nation and have prevailed."

The 14th Amendment's citizenship clause has been interpreted by prior Supreme Court decisions to apply broadly to births occurring within US territory. The recent ruling addresses the specific scope of the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" in the context of the challenged executive order. The decision leaves open the possibility of future legislative efforts, as noted by President Trump, though any statutory change would still need to align with constitutional requirements as interpreted by the court.