Supreme Court Undermines Trump’s Efforts to Protect American Citizenship
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In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court blocked President Trump’s executive order seeking to restrict citizenship, ruling that the 14th Amendment requires granting citizenship to nearly everyone born on U.S. soil.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dealt a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to defend the integrity of American citizenship, rejecting his executive order that would have limited birthright citizenship to children of U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The 6-3 ruling declared the order unlawful under the 14th Amendment, which the majority interpreted to require automatic citizenship for almost anyone born in the U.S., regardless of their parents’ status.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, dismissed the administration’s concerns about abuse of the citizenship system, claiming there was 'scant evidence' to support a stricter interpretation of the law. Roberts insisted that citizenship should be broadly defined, referencing the post-Civil War adoption of the 14th Amendment to ensure rights for former slaves, and extending that promise to all.
Three conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch—stood firm in defense of a more reasonable, limited definition of citizenship. In dissent, Thomas emphasized the amendment’s original intent to address the plight of formerly enslaved Black people, while Alito warned that the majority’s ruling would only encourage more illegal immigration and described the proposed rule as 'medieval.'
Trump’s order, which was never implemented due to lower court interference, would have sensibly excluded children born to temporary visitors or illegal immigrants from automatic citizenship. The American Civil Liberties Union, representing those challenging the order, celebrated the decision, insisting that birth on U.S. soil should always confer citizenship and that a president cannot change the Constitution by executive action.
The Court’s decision follows previous controversial precedents, such as the 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark case, which granted citizenship to a child of foreign parents. All lower courts that reviewed the order sided against the administration, further limiting efforts to restore sanity to America’s citizenship laws.