By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, June 30 (Yonhap) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship in a high-profile ruling, dealing a legal setback to his administration’s immigration policy.
In a 6-3 decision, the top court upheld a lower court decision against Trump’s executive order issued in January last year, which sought to deny birthright citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders.
The ruling marked yet another legal defeat for Trump at the court, following its February decision that struck down his administration’s country-specific “reciprocal” tariffs imposed under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The court reaffirmed the citizenship clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which 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.”
“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 in the ruling.
“We keep that promise today,” he added.
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. (Yonhap)
In a social media post, Trump called the ruling on birthright citizenship “too bad,” signaling that he would push for legislation to “make it up.”
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my Complete and Total Support!”
In the executive order last year, Trump argued that the 14th Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the U.S., and that it has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the U.S. but not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
Following the order, 22 states, as well as Washington, D.C., filed lawsuits to challenge it.
Tuesday’s ruling was watched by current and future immigrants to the U.S. as it could affect them at a time when the Trump administration continues its hard-line immigration policy, touting it as a key policy legacy for the president.
Meanwhile, in a separate ruling, the Supreme Court upheld state bans on transgender women competing in female school sports. Over two dozen U.S. states have put in place bans barring transgender girls or women from joining school and college competitions.
Trump welcomed the ruling.
“BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS,” he said in a Truth Social post. “Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!”
This photo, released by EPA, shows U.S. President Donald Trump speaking after signing an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on June 29, 2026. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
sshluck@yna.co.kr
(END)
