The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship, ruling 6-3 that the measure violated the Constitution and reaffirming a principle that has been a cornerstone of American law for more than 150 years.
The ruling came on the final day of the court’s term before the justices adjourned for their summer recess.
Trump signed the executive order on January 20, 2025, his first day back in office, in an effort to deny automatic US citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and certain temporary visa holders. The order was quickly blocked by a lower court, prompting the administration to appeal to the nation’s highest court.
In its majority opinion, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which was ratified in 1868 following the Civil War and abolished slavery while extending citizenship to nearly everyone born on US soil.
Delivering the court’s opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said the amendment’s framers intended to guarantee citizenship as a fundamental right.
“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights, to freely participate in our political community,” Roberts wrote. “The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’ We keep that promise today.”
The decision marks a significant setback for the Trump administration, which has argued that the Constitution does not require automatic citizenship for children born to people who are in the country illegally or temporarily.
Despite the ruling, Trump signalled he would continue pursuing the issue. In a post on his Truth Social platform, the president described the decision as “too bad for our country” but insisted the effort was “not over,” adding that “we can easily make it up in Congress” through legislation.
Legal observers note, however, that changing birthright citizenship through an act of Congress would face significant constitutional and political hurdles. Unlike executive orders, which Trump has frequently used to advance his agenda without congressional approval, any legislation would require majority support in both chambers of Congress and could still face constitutional challenges.
The court’s three conservative dissenters argued the majority had erred in its interpretation of the Constitution.
Justice Clarence Thomas questioned whether the ruling would “stand the test of time,” while Justice Samuel Alito described the court’s decision as a “serious mistake.”
Birthright citizenship has long been regarded as a defining feature of the United States’ identity as a nation of immigrants, guaranteeing that with limited exceptions anyone born on American soil is automatically recognized as a US citizen.