The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a Trump administration executive order that sought to deny birthright citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and tourists. The 5-4 ruling affirmed that the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause applies to all persons born within the U.S. jurisdiction, irrespective of their parents' immigration status.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, stated that the language of the Citizenship Clause does not support limiting citizenship based on the immigration status of parents. "Words appearing frequently in the Executive Order—’mother,’ ‘father,’ ‘lawful,’ ‘temporary’— are absent from the Clause. For a simple reason: they did not matter," Roberts wrote. The court found that a constitutional amendment would be required to alter the established understanding of birthright citizenship.
The administration's order had faced legal challenges, with many experts expressing skepticism about the president's authority to unilaterally restrict birthright citizenship through an executive order. The case, Trump v. Barbara, originated from challenges brought by three individuals whose children were born in the U.S. while their parents were seeking asylum or held temporary visa statuses. These plaintiffs alleged the order unlawfully stripped their children of U.S. citizenship and associated benefits.
This decision aligns with the 1898 Supreme Court precedent in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which held that children born in the U.S. are citizens unless they are the offspring of enemy forces, foreign rulers, or diplomats, or born on foreign ships in U.S. ports. During oral arguments, the administration had argued that the Wong Kim Ark case dealt with legal immigrants and that the current case involved national security concerns due to higher levels of illegal immigration. The Supreme Court's decision to hear the case marked the first time a sitting U.S. president attended oral arguments at the court.
This ruling represents a significant setback for a key policy initiative of the Trump administration, which had previously been challenged legally. In February, the Supreme Court had also ruled against the president in a case concerning the use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act to impose tariffs.