US Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship Ruling

US Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump’s Attempt to End Birthright Citizenship

The US Supreme Court has issued a 6-3 ruling rejecting President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending the practice of granting citizenship to individuals born on United States soil. The court’s decision upholds the longstanding principle of birthright citizenship, which is grounded in the 14th Amendment of 1868.

In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order barring those born in the US to parents on temporary legal statuses or without documentation from automatically receiving US citizenship. However, the Supreme Court has now struck down this order, reaffirming what it means to be a US citizen.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended the promise of citizenship to “every free-born person in this land.” The court’s decision affirms the principle of birthright citizenship, which is based on the English common law principle of “jus soli” or “right of the soil.”

The ruling comes ahead of the July 4 holiday marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. Trump had argued that birthright citizenship allowed undocumented migrants to take advantage of the US welfare state, but lawyers for the administration argued that the practice was based on a misreading of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

US Solicitor General John Sauer represented the administration in court, arguing that granting citizenship to individuals born on US soil had led to “birth tourism” and the arrival of foreign nationals seeking to secure citizenship for their children. Trump has vowed to continue pursuing his goal of limiting birthright citizenship, suggesting that Congress may pass legislation to achieve this aim.

The Supreme Court’s decision marks a significant blow to Trump’s efforts to overhaul immigration policy ahead of the November midterm elections.

Source: Al Jazeera