The US Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, ruling that children born in the United States remain citizens under the 14th Amendment
US Supreme Court Blocks Trump Birthright Citizenship Order, Upholds 14th Amendment
President Donald Trump has suffered a significant legal defeat after the United States Supreme Court struck down his administration’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, reaffirming that children born on American soil remain citizens under the US Constitution.
In a landmark 6-3 ruling delivered on the final day of its term on Tuesday, the nation’s highest court upheld the long-established interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause, preserving a constitutional guarantee that has defined American citizenship for more than a century.
The judgment invalidates Trump’s executive order, signed on the first day of his second term, which sought to deny automatic US citizenship to children born in the country to parents who were either living in the United States illegally or residing on temporary visas.
The policy had already been blocked by several lower courts, which ruled that it violated the Constitution. Those courts found that the executive order conflicted with the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to individuals born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction.
Delivering the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts reaffirmed the constitutional protection, leaving little room for ambiguity over the meaning of the Citizenship Clause.
“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 stated.
The case drew extraordinary national attention earlier this year after Trump became the first sitting US president to personally attend Supreme Court oral arguments, appearing before the justices during hearings in April as his administration defended the executive order.
Tuesday’s ruling marks one of the most consequential judicial setbacks for Trump’s immigration agenda during his second term. It also preserves one of the most enduring principles of American constitutional law, ensuring that birthright citizenship remains intact despite renewed political and legal challenges.
The decision is expected to have far-reaching implications for future immigration policy debates, reinforcing the Supreme Court’s longstanding interpretation of the Constitution while closing the door, at least for now, on efforts to narrow the scope of automatic citizenship in the United States.
