Some Republican lawmakers are reigniting a push to amend the Constitution to end birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit the right under the 14th Amendment.
The high court ruled 6-3 to strike down Trump’s order that would have ended citizenship for children born to parents who are either in the country illegally or on a temporary basis. However, GOP members of Congress are looking toward another path to end birthright citizenship.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) introduced a constitutional amendment in April as a preemptive measure should the Supreme Court “fail to address this issue correctly.” On Tuesday, Paul urged Americans who are unhappy with the justices’ ruling to support his proposal.
“Upset with the SCOTUS decision today?” Paul said in an X post. “Call your senator at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to support my Constitutional Amendment to end Birthright Citizenship. We must protect the integrity of American citizenship.”
Birthright citizenship is granted under the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens.”
Paul and other supporters of changing the rules governing birthright citizenship argue that the law was only put in place to grant citizenship to formerly enslaved people and not the children of illegal migrants.
Justices Clarence Thomas dissented the ruling and, like Paul, argued the amendment was not intended to give sweeping citizenship to people not legally domiciled in America. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch also dissented the court’s ruling and similarly took aim at the majority’s interpretation of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment.
Trump posted on Truth Social encouraging Congress to move on legislation to end birthright citizenship immediately, saying lawmakers can “easily” make up for the loss.
“No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary!” Trump said. “Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my Complete and Total Support!”
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said he is joining the fight to amend the Constitution to end “birth tourism” because the writers of the 14th Amendment never intended it would be used for illegal immigrants.
“Neither the Founding Fathers, nor the authors of the 14th Amendment, nor the millions of Americans who fought and died for their country through the ages intended to establish a nation whose citizenship could so easily be purchased, whether through birth tourism of China’s communist party members or a vast border invasion enabled by faithless presidents,” Lee said.
“This is the cheap and cheated citizenship the Supreme Court upholds today,” the senator added. “The long fight for a constitutional amendment begins now. We must explicitly exclude foreign nationals who break our laws, violate our borders, or exploit loopholes to make their families American citizens.”
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER
The Supreme Court’s ruling sent shockwaves through the Republican Party, which framed the decision as a major loss. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a former attorney, also voiced his support for a constitutional amendment.
“This was not a decision on procedural grounds (ie, POTUS can’t do this through executive order but Congress could legislate it); it is a substantive decision that says the 14th amendment requires citizenship for those born to, among others, birth tourists or those unlawfully present in the country,” DeSantis said. “Will need either a constitutional amendment or a future court to overrule this. Anyway you slice it, the decision is a major defeat.”