The United States Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, ruling that the Constitution guarantees U.S. citizenship to nearly everyone born on American soil and dealing a major setback to his immigration agenda.
The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship, reaffirming that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born in the United States regardless of their parents’ immigration status. The landmark ruling marks one of the biggest judicial setbacks for Trump’s immigration policies since his return to office.
In a 6–3 decision authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court ruled that President Trump’s executive order seeking to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or temporary visitors violated the Constitution.
The majority held that the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, as interpreted in the landmark 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, protects birthright citizenship and cannot be altered through an executive order. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
President Trump signed the executive order shortly after returning to office as part of a broader immigration crackdown. The policy was immediately challenged in multiple federal courts, which blocked its implementation before the Supreme Court ultimately reviewed the case.
Legal experts noted that the ruling preserves a constitutional principle that has existed for more than a century and means any attempt to change birthright citizenship would require constitutional action rather than unilateral executive action.
The decision means children born in the United States will continue to receive automatic U.S. citizenship under the Constitution.
The ruling also leaves President Trump’s administration unable to enforce the executive order, unless future constitutional changes are made through Congress and the amendment process.
The judgment represents a significant constitutional ruling with far-reaching implications for immigration policy in the United States. By reaffirming birthright citizenship, the Supreme Court has maintained one of the country’s longest-standing constitutional protections while delivering a major legal defeat to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.