Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship, Striking Down Trump Executive Order

On the final day of its term, the Supreme Court issued a majority opinion that birthright citizenship “is a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.” The ruling, handed down on Tuesday, invalidated President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to limit citizenship for children of temporary visitors. The judgment survived a single-vote margin, with Justices Clarence Thomas, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Samuel A. Alito Jr., and Neil M. Gorsuch indicating they did not view the right as constitutionally protected for certain groups. Justice Kavanaugh joined the majority but based his concurrence on a federal statute rather than the 14th Amendment.

New York Times

For more than a century, legal scholars and courts have broadly agreed that the 14th Amendment extends citizenship to “nearly all babies born within the United States,” encompassing children of former enslaved people and later generations of immigrants. The notion that the amendment applies only to slavery-related descendants emerged as a fringe academic theory in the mid-2010s and gained political traction when Mr. Trump entered the presidential race in 2015.

New York Times

The four dissenting justices argued that the Constitution does not expressly confer citizenship on children of non-permanent residents, suggesting a narrower interpretation of the amendment’s scope. Their positions reflect the ongoing shift of the conservative legal movement toward revisiting long-standing citizenship doctrines.

New York Times

Civil-rights advocates expressed surprise at the narrow vote. Bethany Li, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund—which filed an amicus brief opposing the executive order—said, “This should have been a 9-0 decision.” Lawyers and scholars noted that the ruling reaffirms established precedent despite the Court’s ideological divisions.

New York Times

• “On the final day of its term, the Supreme Court issued amajority opinionwith a clear message: Birthright citizenship is a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.” — Supreme Court majority opinion

New York Times

• “This should have been a 9-0 decision,” — Bethany Li, Executive Director, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund

New York Times