The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, ruling that children born on American soil remain entitled to US citizenship regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
In a 6-3 decision delivered on the final day of its term, the court upheld the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, affirming that nearly everyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen.
Trump had signed an executive order on the first day of his second term seeking to deny automatic citizenship to children born to parents living in the US illegally or those on temporary visas.
However, lower courts blocked the order, holding that it violated the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to almost everyone born within the country.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said, “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.”
In a rare move for a sitting US president, Trump attended oral arguments before the Supreme Court in April.
He remained in court during the presentation by Solicitor General John Sauer, who defended the administration’s position, but left before arguments by American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Cecillia Wang, who represented those challenging the executive order.
The administration had argued that unrestricted birthright citizenship encourages illegal immigration and so-called “birth tourism,” where foreigners travel to the US to give birth so their children can obtain American citizenship.
The 14th Amendment states that “all persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
The Trump administration contended that the amendment, adopted after the Civil War, was intended to protect the citizenship rights of formerly enslaved people and should not extend to children of undocumented migrants or temporary visitors.
It further argued that individuals living in the US unlawfully or on temporary visas are not fully “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and should therefore be excluded from the constitutional guarantee of citizenship by birth.
The Supreme Court rejected that interpretation, relying on its landmark 1898 ruling in the case of Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese parents.
Although Wong was denied re-entry into the United States after a trip to China under the Chinese Exclusion Acts, the court ruled that he was an American citizen because he was born on US soil.
The ruling marks another legal setback for Trump’s administration, following previous Supreme Court decisions that blocked key elements of his policy agenda.
AFP
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
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