The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to limit birthright citizenship, preserving the long-standing rule that nearly anyone born in the United States is a citizen.
The ruling blocks an executive order that sought to deny automatic citizenship to some children born in the country to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily. The proposed restrictions had already been blocked by lower courts and had not taken effect.
In its decision, the court relied on the 14th Amendment and federal citizenship law, reaffirming the broad understanding of birthright citizenship that has existed for more than a century. The ruling keeps in place the principle that U.S.-born children are citizens, with limited exceptions.
The decision is one of the most significant immigration and constitutional rulings of the current Supreme Court term. It also marks a major legal defeat for the administration’s efforts to reshape citizenship policy through executive action.
Supporters of birthright citizenship say the ruling protects a core constitutional guarantee and avoids creating uncertainty for children born in the United States. Supporters of the proposed limits had argued that the Constitution has been interpreted too broadly and that children of some noncitizens should not automatically receive citizenship.
The ruling has national implications, including for Texas communities where immigration policy, citizenship, schools, health care and local services are closely connected. It also leaves Congress, rather than the president alone, as the branch more likely to decide any future changes to citizenship law.
