Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship Blocks Trump Order

The US Supreme Court has upheld the principle of birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump’s attempt to change who qualifies as an American citizen at birth.

On Tuesday, the court struck down Trump’s executive order that sought to deny citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or staying on a temporary basis.

In a 6-3 ruling on the final day of its term, the Supreme Court held that nearly everyone born on US soil has the right to American citizenship.

Lower courts had earlier blocked Trump’s order. The Supreme Court agreed with those decisions in a majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts.

“Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause,” Roberts wrote.

He added that citizenship was “the right to have rights” and said the promise of the Fourteenth Amendment must be protected.

The ruling preserves the long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to those born on American soil.

The amendment was originally intended to ensure citizenship for Black people, including former slaves, though its Citizenship Clause is written broadly. It states that all persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the United States and the state in which they reside.

Trump personally attended the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on birthright citizenship in April. His administration had argued that the traditional understanding of citizenship was wrong and claimed that children of noncitizens were not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States.

Trump signed the birthright citizenship order on the first day of his second term as part of his broader immigration crackdown. It was also the first of his immigration-related policies to reach the Supreme Court for a final ruling.

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