Supreme Court blocks Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship, upholds constitutional right

WASHINGTON, DC: In a landmark ruling on Tuesday, June 30, the Supreme Court of America upheld the right to citizenship for people born in the United States, arguing that Trump’s citizenship restriction are illegal.

President Donald Trump challenged birthright citizenship on January 20, 2025, by signing Executive Order 14160 on his first day back in office.

SC declares children born in US will automatically get citizenship

Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by all three liberal justices and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, wrote in favour of a long-standing constitutional principle for children born to many immigrants.

The bench observed that the 14th Amendment guarantees automatic citizenship for nearly all children born on US soil, even those born to parents in the country unlawfully will continue to exist.

A sixth justice, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, disagreed but voted to block Trump’s order under federal law.

“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,” the ruling on Tuesday said. The case is known as Trump v. Barbara.

Trump attended oral argument, giving importance to policy

Trump, who on the first day of his second tenure decided to block the citizenship rights of children born in the US to parents who are not American citizens or lawful permanent residents, attended the oral argument, given that the policy was his priority.

During oral argument, the court justices signaled that they would affirm that individuals born in the United States to non-US citizens are automatically granted citizenship.

Trump’s order never took effect after it was challenged in court by Democratic-led states, immigrant rights groups, and individual mothers.

The lawsuits argued that the policy violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees US citizenship to anyone born in the country and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

The citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which was adopted in 1868, says, “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.”