WASHINGTON, Jun 30 – The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump’s attempt to redefine the constitutional right to birthright citizenship.
In the decision, a majority of the justices upheld the country’s long understanding of automatic citizenship by birth on American soil, regardless of the immigration status of a newborn’s parents. The opinion, written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., found the president’s executive order violated the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“Arguments for limiting birthright citizenship to those domiciled in the United States fail,” Roberts wrote. “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. Under the Constitution, they are citizens at birth.”
The White House did not immediately respond to States Newsroom’s request for comment, but a day before the decision, Trump said in the Oval Office that he would accept the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“It’s up to them, but in terms of for the good of the country, it’d be great if they … didn’t allow it,” Trump, who in a highly unusual move for a president attended the oral arguments on the case, said of birthright citizenship.
On his first day back in office, President Trump signed an executive order denying automatic U.S. citizenship to babies unless one parent is either a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident — known as a green card holder — at the time of the baby’s birth.
