The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump's executive order that sought to reinterpret the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship. In a 6-3 decision, the Court affirmed that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are automatically U.S. citizens.
Chief Justice Roberts Delivers Majority Opinion
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, stating, “Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.” Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in part, while Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
Background of the Executive Order
The 14th Amendment declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside.” Trump’s January executive order argued that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” was never meant to apply to children born to parents living in the U.S. temporarily or illegally. The administration, through Solicitor General John Sauer, contended during oral arguments in April that only individuals with “domicile”—legal permission to reside in the U.S.—could be considered under the amendment. Notably, the word “domicile” does not appear in the 14th Amendment's text.
Legal Precedent and Lower Court Challenges
This narrow interpretation was rejected by four federal judges before reaching the Supreme Court. Legal scholars and constitutional experts widely criticized Trump’s order, noting it contradicted over 100 years of precedent. In the 1898 case U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark, the Supreme Court affirmed that children born in the U.S. to parents who were not diplomats or foreign officials are entitled to citizenship.
Previous Supreme Court Ruling on Injunctions
Tuesday’s ruling comes nearly a year after the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, mostly blocked nationwide injunctions that lower courts had imposed on Trump’s birthright citizenship order. The Court’s conservative majority wrote last June that such injunctions were an affront to executive power and too powerful a tool for the judiciary. The birthright citizenship order was subsequently challenged on other grounds, leading to the current ruling on the order’s broader constitutionality.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
