Washington/The Supreme Court of the United States on Tuesday considered illegal the executive order of President Donald Trump to limit the citizenship of people born in the United States as children of undocumented parents or with temporary visas, a right that the court considers enshrined in the Constitution.
The ruling recognizes that “children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction,'” so “they are citizens from birth under the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
The decision was adopted by five votes in favor and four against by the justices that make up the court, and maintains an interpretation of the Constitution that for more than 150 years considers almost anyone born within the nation as Americans, with exceptions, such as the children of diplomatic officials.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh dissented in part, not sharing the maximalist conception of the citizenship clause while not endorsing Trump’s executive order, which would de facto eliminate birthright citizenship.
Three other judges considered conservative dissented from the majority vote by not recognizing “fully” automatic birthright citizenship.
Three other judges considered conservative dissented from the majority vote by not recognizing “fully” automatic birthright citizenship.
Trump had promised during his campaign to limit automatic citizenship for children of irregular migrants, a measure that he signed on the same day he assumed his second term, January 20, 2025, and that inaugurated a period of restrictive anti-immigration policies.
The order, which would affect some 255,000 children a year, is annulled with today’s decision by the Supreme Court, which analyzes in the ruling what it means to be a US citizen and concludes “that someone born in the United States and subject to its laws falls within the scope of citizenship by birth.”
The tenant of the White House attended the public session of the Supreme Court last April in which the legality of the order was debated, the first time that a sitting US president attended oral arguments before the high court.
The American president has argued that the Fourteenth Amendment has been misinterpreted and has assured that the United States is the only country that grants the right of citizenship automatically when one is born on its soil, a false argument, since thirty countries around the world also recognize that right.
“There is no need for a long and cumbersome constitutional amendment!” he assured.
Trump has claimed that the Fourteenth Amendment, which was passed after the Civil War (1861-1865) to correct the “Dred Scott v. Sanford” ruling of 1857 and guarantee citizenship to former slaves and their descendants, was only intended to grant citizenship “to children of slaves.”
After hearing the Supreme Court’s ruling, the president demanded that Congress end citizenship by birth. “Congress should begin working today to end birthright citizenship, a costly and unfair practice for our country. They will have my total and absolute support!” wrote the president on his network, Truth Social.
Trump, who promised during his campaign to limit automatic citizenship for children of irregular migrants, described the Supreme Court’s decision to maintain birthright citizenship as “regrettable.”
Despite the judiciary’s blow to the president’s plans, Trump does not give up his objective and now points to Congress as a way to achieve it.
“We can easily solve it in Congress through legislation – with the support of the president, something that has become clear during this process –. There is no need for a long and cumbersome constitutional amendment!”, he assured.
