Birthright citizenship upheld as US Supreme Court rejects Trump order on US-born children

The US Supreme Court has narrowly backed a broad view of birthright citizenship. The ruling rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order. The order said some US-born children were not citizens. It covered children of people in the country illegally. It also covered those in the US on temporary status.

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The justices said the 14th Amendment and later federal laws supported citizenship at birth. They said most people born in the United States are citizens. Only limited exceptions apply under the long-settled approach. The decision kept in place a lower-court block. Trump’s restrictions never took effect anywhere in the US.

Birthright citizenship ruling and the 14th Amendment

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court and cited post-Civil War history. Roberts pointed to debates in Congress over the 14th Amendment. Roberts wrote: "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, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court, citing congressional debate over the amendment, We keep that promise today.\"

The Citizenship Clause was adopted to secure citizenship for Black people, including former slaves. Its text uses wider language. It says: \"All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside, it reads.\" Under the ruling, only narrow exclusions remain.

Birthright citizenship order and Trump’s immigration crackdown

The court reviewed Trump’s appeal from New Hampshire. A lower court there struck down the restrictions. Trump signed the birthright citizenship order on the first day of the second term. The policy was part of a wider immigration crackdown. It was also the first Trump immigration policy to reach final review.

Trump’s order would have shifted common views of the 14th Amendment. It would have excluded only limited groups under older practice. Those groups include children of foreign diplomats. They also include those born to a foreign occupying force. Lower courts said the order conflicted with long-standing citizenship rules.

Birthright citizenship dissent and conservative split

Three conservative justices would have let the restrictions proceed. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a long dissent. It ran 91 pages, far longer than Roberts’ opinion. Thomas wrote: \"The Court today takes the extraordinary step of holding facially unconstitutional the Presidents Order excluding from citizenship the children of foreign temporary visitors and illegal aliens, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a 91-page dissent, more than three times as long as Roberts opinion. In doing so, the Court adds to the sad history of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was designed and understood to secure equal rights for the freed blacks but has instead been repurposed for political projects that the Reconstruction Congress did not support.\"

Lower courts had relied on the Supreme Court’s 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark. That decision held that a US-born child of Chinese nationals was a citizen. The Trump administration disputed that reading. It argued children of noncitizens were not under US jurisdiction. It said that meant they lacked a right to citizenship.

Birthright citizenship case context and Trump’s court record

Arguments took place in April. Conservative and liberal justices questioned the order’s legality. The case drew attention due to Trump’s courtroom presence. It also tested Trump’s use of executive power. The court has a conservative majority. It has often backed presidential authority in past disputes.

The court had earlier struck down Trump’s global tariffs under emergency powers. The law had not been used that way before. After that late February decision, Trump criticised the justices. Trump said being ashamed of them. Trump called them unpatriotic. Trump later attacked \"dumb judges and justices\" on Truth Social.

Researchers estimated the citizenship order could have affected over a quarter-million babies each year. The figure came from the Migration Policy Institute. It also came from Pennsylvania State University’s Population Research Institute. The policy went beyond illegal immigration. It also applied to legal visitors, including students and green card applicants.

With inputs from PTI