Story perspectives

Kavanaugh Advances Birthright Limits, Trump, Johnson Propose Amendment

7/23/2026

Summary

Kavanaugh Immigration Rulings

Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinions have coincided with 170 detainees and 31 ICE deaths.
Kavanaugh added a December 2025 footnote banning interior immigration stops based on race, then on 8 September 2025 allowed ICE to consider ethnicity and language in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo.
President Donald Trump praised Kavanaugh after his 20 February dissent in Learning Resources v. Trump, which justified tariff use under IEEPA.

Summary

Kavanaugh Targets Birthright

Kavanaugh, ex-officio legal adviser to the Trump administration, drafts option memos on Supreme Court matters.
He advanced a theory that the Fourteenth Amendment’s framers would have excluded children of illegal immigrants from birthright citizenship.
Following his proposal, President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson announced a legislative effort to amend §1401(a) for new citizenship exceptions, though analysts say the bill is unlikely to pass.

History

Historical Context

After the 1993 World Trade Center and 1995 Oklahoma City bombings, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act in 1996, signed by President Bill Clinton and effective April 1 1997. The law expanded aggravated-felony deportations, raising annual removals from about 20,000 to over 180,000. Justice Kavanaugh’s 2025 rulings revive that precedent, prompting new birthright-citizenship challenges.

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Kavanaugh Immigration Rulings

Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinions have coincided with 170 detainees and 31 ICE deaths.
Kavanaugh added a December 2025 footnote banning interior immigration stops based on race, then on 8 September 2025 allowed ICE to consider ethnicity and language in Noem v. Vasquez Perdomo.
President Donald Trump praised Kavanaugh after his 20 February dissent in Learning Resources v. Trump, which justified tariff use under IEEPA.

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