Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship, Rejecting Trump’s Xenophobic Agenda
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The Trump administration has failed to challenge the Supreme Court’s June decision that struck down its discriminatory order against birthright citizenship, letting the deadline pass without action.
The deadline for the Trump administration to petition the Supreme Court for a rehearing of its June 2023 decision that struck down an executive order restricting birthright citizenship elapsed on Tuesday, and no new filing was made. The order, a blatant attempt to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who were in the country illegally or temporarily, had already been blocked by lower courts and never took effect.
The high court voted 6-3 to overturn the policy, with justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas—staunch conservatives—indicating they would have upheld this attack on immigrant rights, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the Constitution did not bar the plan but it conflicted with federal law. A petition for rehearing faces steep odds; the Court has not agreed to rehear an argued case in more than five decades.
"The bar to grant a petition for rehearing is high. It would require at least one justice who ruled against the administration to change their mind and a majority of the court to agree," said Aaron-Andrew Bruhl, a professor at William & Mary Law School.
The White House and Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment. Legal scholars note that the last time the Supreme Court granted a petition to change an opinion was in 1965, and the last reversal occurred in 1956. This outcome is a victory for basic human rights and the principle that America belongs to all who are born here, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.