In a landmark ruling, the United States Supreme Court has struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship, reaffirming that nearly everyone born on American soil is automatically entitled to U.S. citizenship under the Constitution. The decision represents a significant legal setback for one of Trump’s signature immigration policies.
The court ruled 6–3 that the executive order violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, are U.S. citizens. The ruling also reaffirmed the long-standing legal precedent established by the 1898 Supreme Court case, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which guarantees birthright citizenship to most children born in the country, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Trump’s order, signed shortly after he returned to office, directed federal agencies to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. if neither parent was an American citizen or lawful permanent resident. The administration argued the policy was intended to curb illegal immigration and discourage so-called “birth tourism.” However, several lower federal courts blocked the order before it could take effect, ruling that it was unconstitutional.
The case reached the Supreme Court through a class-action lawsuit filed by affected families, civil rights organizations, and several Democratic-led states. During oral arguments, a majority of the justices questioned the administration’s legal interpretation of the Constitution and expressed doubts that a president could alter a constitutional right through an executive order alone.
Legal experts say the ruling preserves a constitutional principle that has existed for more than 150 years and protects the citizenship status of hundreds of thousands of children born in the United States each year. The decision is also viewed as one of the most significant judicial checks on Trump’s immigration agenda during his second term.
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