The Supreme Court struck down an executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment on Tuesday, handing President Donald Trump another major loss at the high court this term.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to strike down Trump’s executive order, with five of those justices also defining birthright citizenship under the Constitution to include the children of parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion.
Under Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order, a child born on U.S. soil who has one parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident would have still been granted citizenship at birth, but children born to parents who are both either in the country illegally or on a temporary basis, such as on a visa, would not have been granted birthright citizenship. The executive order immediately sparked lawsuits, which blocked it from taking effect, and less than 15 months later, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FACES TOUGH QUESTIONS ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP AT SUPREME COURT
During April’s oral arguments, the justices appeared deeply skeptical of the Trump administration’s arguments in favor of upholding the narrowed understanding of birthright citizenship. Roberts led the questioning from the skeptical panel, grilling the Justice Department on its use of “quirky” examples of people excluded from birthright citizenship, such as children of foreign diplomats, to justify excluding broad groups of people, such as illegal immigrants.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has had a mixed record at the Supreme Court on the merits docket, winning in last year’s case against universal injunctions but losing earlier this year in the case over his sweeping global tariffs.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.