Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship in Blow to Trump Immigration Enforcement

In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump on the issue of birthright citizenship, maintaining the status quo.

The majority held that children born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents are citizens at birth under the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause.

Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote for the majority, joined by Trump-appointed Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, as well as the trio of Democrat appointees, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

“The Fourteenth Amendment achieved its aim. The Citizenship Clause mirrored the common law’s criteria for citizenship,” Roberts wrote. “The Clause starts, like the common law, with territory—a child must be ‘born . . . in the United States,’ not elsewhere (even to American parents). And the Clause ends, again like the common law, with sovereign power—a child must be ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States, unlike (say) the families of foreign ministers. A child born on American soil and subject to American law was made an American citizen.” 

“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights—to freely participate in our political community,” Roberts later added. “The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today.”

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, all Republican appointees.

TRENDING ARTICLES

news

Supreme Court Deals Massive Blow to the Deep State, Reversing 90-Year Precedent in Humphrey’s Executor

Fred Lucas

news

SCOTUS Shoots Down Requiring Permission to Carry Handgun in Public Accommodations

Fred Lucas

news

‘HEINOUS’: White House Condemns Judge’s Order Mandating ‘Woke’ Ideology at National Parks

Tyler O’Neil

Thomas wrote that the majority “has repurposed the Fourteenth Amendment.”

“The Court today takes the extraordinary step of holding facially unconstitutional the president’s Order excluding from citizenship the children of foreign temporary visitors and illegal aliens,” Thomas wrote. “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.”

Thomas later added, “Today, the Court does so again by recognizing a constitutional right to citizenship for the children of all foreign birth tourists and illegal aliens.” 

“I am not sure that today’s opinion will stand the test of time. The Citizenship Clause ‘added greatly to the dignity and glory of American citizenship,’” Thomas added. “Today’s opinion devalues that citizenship. I respectfully dissent.”

Some conservative-leaning justices had hard questions for Solicitor General John Sauer during arguments in April over reversing nearly 130 years of precedent on birthright citizenship, as Trump was in attendance.

The case involves Trump’s January 2025 executive order instructing federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children born in the United States without at least one parent who is an American citizen.

Birthright citizenship is the view that anyone born in the United States—even a child of illegal aliens—is automatically a U.S. citizen.

“The Supreme Court’s refusal to overturn universal birthright citizenship is a profound disappointment,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said in a statement. “Though Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch ruled to overturn decades of unconstitutional precedent, the rest of the court has failed the American people. Birthright citizenship has served as a magnet for illegal immigration and undermined both the rule of law and the sacred honor of American citizenship. If the courts will not correct this error, then we will.”  

Roberts added, “The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action will lead the fight for a constitutional amendment making clear that citizenship is reserved for those who are lawfully part of the American republic.”

“We will work with lawmakers, state leaders, and grassroots conservatives across the country to advance this effort,” Roberts said. “America’s future depends on restoring the integrity of citizenship, and we intend to see that fight through to victory.”   

The decision upholds a Supreme Court precedent dating back to 1898, when the court upheld birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to freed slaves after the Civil War.

The disputed provision of the 14th Amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The point of contention in the case is the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” which Sauer has argued was misinterpreted by the court’s late 19th-century ruling.