President Donald Trump stated Tuesday that he can "easily make it up in Congress through Legislation" to end birthright citizenship, brushing off a Supreme Court decision that rejected his administration's attempt to alter the long-standing policy. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Trump's executive order, which sought to end birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to non-citizen parents.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, stated that "Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights -- to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to every free-born person in this land. We keep that promise today."
Trump responded to the ruling on his social media platform, calling the decision "too bad for our Country." He added, "No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship."
Birthright citizenship is rooted in the Constitution and federal law dating back to 1940. Any legislative changes to this policy would likely face legal challenges on constitutional grounds, potentially leading the issue back to the Supreme Court.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, speaking prior to Trump's social media post, expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court's decision. He indicated that Congress would explore amending the Constitution to address the issue, acknowledging that such a process would be complicated and lengthy. "I think it subjects the country to serious challenges going forward and we'll have to deal with it as a Congress," Johnson said, describing the policy as "grossly abused."
Amending the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, followed by ratification by three-quarters of the states.