SUPREME COURT REJECTED TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT ORDER IN 6-3 VOTE
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 birthright citizenship ruling shot down President Donald Trump’s order limiting citizenship for some U.S.-born children.
The justices ruled on June 30, 2026, rejecting the executive order Trump signed on January 20, 2025, his first day of his second term. NBC News reported that the order sought to deny citizenship to children born to parents who were undocumented or in the country on temporary visas.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court’s opinion. The ruling upheld a lower-court decision blocking Trump’s order, Reuters reported.
“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 majority wrote, CNBC reported.
What the order tried to do
Trump’s order directed federal agencies not to recognize citizenship for children born in the United States if neither parent was a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
The Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
The principle has narrow exceptions. Reuters reported that they include children of foreign diplomats, who are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and children of an enemy occupying force.
Native Americans were historically among the exceptions, Reuters reported, until they were granted citizenship by statute in 1924.
NPR reported that the decision recognized limited historical exceptions, only one of which still exists: children of foreign diplomats.
How the justices lined up
Roberts was joined by Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett and the court’s liberal justices, Reuters reported.
There was a wrinkle on Kavanaugh’s side. NPR reported that he agreed only that a federal statute granted automatic citizenship to children born in the United States.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
“The Court has made a serious mistake,” Alito said in his dissent, CNBC reported.
The Trump administration has been in the headlines on immigration before, including plans to de-bank illegal immigrants.
What happened next
The fight did not end with the justices’ vote. Several federal district judges later ruled that Trump’s order violated the Constitution, CNBC reported.
Two federal appeals courts also upheld injunctions blocking the order. As it stands, the order remains blocked.
