Trump suffers major Supreme Court defeat as justices uphold birthright citizenship
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump's bid to restrict birthright citizenship, preserving the long-standing constitutional interpretation that most children born in the United States are automatically U.S. citizens, including children born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the country.
The ruling is a major setback for Trump, who made curbing birthright citizenship a key part of his immigration agenda.
"Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause," the court said.
"The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today."
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to affirm a district court ruling blocking Trump's executive order, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett joining the court's three liberal justices. The court found that a person's citizenship status is not dependent on their parents', citing the 14th Amendment. Roberts wrote that the Court's 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark had settled the issue.
The majority said the Citizenship Clause was adopted to reverse the Supreme Court's Dred Scott ruling, which denied citizenship to Black Americans, and to ensure that citizenship is determined by birth on U.S. soil.
While Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed that Trump's executive order could not take effect, he reached that conclusion on different legal grounds than the majority in a concurring opinion.
Kavanaugh argued that Trump's executive order violated current federal law; however, he said the Constitution would allow Congress to pass legislation restricting birthright citizenship for children born to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily.
"Congress could—consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment — amend or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country. But Congress has not yet done so," Kavanaugh ruled.
Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, dissented, arguing that the 14th Amendment does not guarantee birthright citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily. Thomas argued that the Court's 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark expanded birthright citizenship beyond what the Reconstruction Congress had ever "contemplated."
"Wong Kim Ark addressed only the citizenship of a child born to parents who were lawfully and permanently domiciled in the United States," Thomas wrote.
Multiple lawsuits followed Trump's initial executive order. After the Supreme Court curtailed the use of nationwide injunctions, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a nationwide class-action lawsuit on behalf of families affected by the policy. The suit, led by a Honduran woman identified only as "Barbara" to protect her identity, challenged the order as unconstitutional and argued that it violated the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.