Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship
The Supreme Court has affirmed that children born in the United States have a constitutional right to citizenship, dismissing former President Donald Trump's attempt to terminate the longstanding policy.
In a 6-3 ruling, Chief Justice John Roberts declared that children born in the US "to parents unlawfully or temporarily present" are "citizens at birth" under the 14th Amendment.
President Trump had sought to restrict this right through an executive order, contending that children of undocumented immigrants and certain temporary visitors were not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" and therefore ineligible for birthright citizenship.
This decision represents a significant defeat for Trump's immigration policies and has been positively received by civil rights organizations.
Related Supreme Court Decisions
In related rulings, the Supreme Court also upheld bans on transgender women participating in female school and college sports.
Responding on Truth Social, Trump described the court's ruling as "too bad" and pledged to continue efforts to end birthright citizenship via legislative means.
"No long and unwieldy constitutional amendment is necessary," he stated. "Congress should today start work on ending expensive, and unfair to our country, birthright citizenship."
The United States has granted citizenship to all individuals born on its soil since 1868, a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment and reinforced by subsequent Supreme Court decisions.
"Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights - to freely participate in our political community," Justice Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land'."
"We keep that promise today," the Chief Justice added.
Dissenting Opinions
Three justices dissented: Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito.
Justice Thomas criticized the majority, asserting that the 14th Amendment was being "repurposed for political projects" and emphasizing that the freed slaves originally intended to be covered were "Americans" with no foreign allegiances.
Justice Alito described the ruling as a "serious mistake," arguing it "confers citizenship on virtually anyone who happens to be born in this country," including those who come expressly to give birth and then return to their home countries.
Significance and Reactions
The case held great importance for President Trump, who made a rare and historic appearance at the Supreme Court to observe oral arguments in April.
On X, White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, known for advocating stricter immigration policies, condemned the ruling as "one of the most destructive and outrageous decisions" in the Court's history.
"American citizenship is not the birthright of the world," Miller stated. "No provision of the Constitution can be read to require our national self-obliteration."
Conversely, immigration advocates and critics of the Trump administration welcomed the decision.
Dariely Rodriguez, chief counsel at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, remarked that the ruling "solidifies what we have known to be true for over a hundred years."
"Anyone born on American soil, regardless of the legal status of their parents, is born an American citizen," she said. "We have endured an incredible test of our collective will as a nation and have prevailed."
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