Supreme Court Rejects Trump's Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump's executive order that sought to end birthright citizenship, upholding the long-standing interpretation that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are entitled to automatic US citizenship. The decision, which CNN reported via a court document, relies on the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the precedent set in United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
Key Ruling and Dissenting Opinions
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, stating, "Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights -- to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today." Three conservative justices -- Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch, and Samuel A. Alito Jr. -- dissented. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh joined the majority but based his decision on federal law rather than constitutional grounds.
Trump's Earlier Warning and Legal Arguments
In May, Trump had warned that a negative ruling on birthright citizenship, combined with a recent Supreme Court tariff decision, would be "not economically sustainable for the United States of America," according to the New York Times. The Trump administration's attorneys argued that the 14th Amendment required individuals to be "domiciled" in the US with the intention of remaining to qualify for birthright citizenship. The court rejected this interpretation.
Reaction from Civil Rights Groups
Civil rights groups celebrated the decision. Deborah Fleischaker, a former Homeland Security official now with the Latino group UnidosUS, called it "a huge relief." The ruling is a major setback for Trump, who made ending "birth tourism" and cracking down on both legal and illegal immigration key issues in his second-term campaign.
