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Supreme Court blocks order
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship, with the ruling described as a 6-3 decision that upheld a lower-court finding.
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The order sought to deny citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are in the country without authorization or whose presence is lawful but temporary, such as those on a work or student visa.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that “Citizenship, then and now, is the right to have rights—to participate freely in our political community,” and said “We keep that promise today.”
The BBC reported that the decision upheld the longstanding judicial interpretation of the 14th Amendment and came as Trump called the ruling “too bad.”
Roberts, dissents, and Trump
In the ruling, Roberts traced the practice of birthright citizenship through English common law, the ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868, and the Supreme Court’s 1898 decision in the United States v Wong Kim Ark.
Al Jazeera reported that Roberts wrote, “The trouble is that there is scant evidence for this dramatically revisionist view,” and said the Framers extended the promise to “every free-born person in this land.”
Trump responded by calling the decision “too bad for our country” and urging Congress to act, writing “Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship.”
The ACLU said the court struck down the executive order and quoted Anthony D. Romero saying, “President Trump suffered a stunning loss on a signature order he signed on day one of his presidency.”
What comes next
After the Supreme Court’s decision, the Justice Department directed prosecutors to “prioritize the investigation and prosecution” of fraudulent “birth tourism” schemes, according to a memo circulated hours after the ruling.
“What to know about birthright citizenship ahead of Supreme Court's ruling The ruling is one of the most highly anticipated of the year”
The AP described the stakes for families by noting the executive order would have denied citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily, and it quoted a Venezuelan asylum seeker, Loreana Pachano, saying the decision was “a relief.”
The BBC said the ruling left in place the understanding that anyone born in the United States is a citizen even if that child’s parents are not, while noting Trump was pushing Congress to legislatively get rid of birthright citizenship.
The Guardian framed the court’s rebuke to the administration’s argument by quoting the ruling’s language that 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.
