The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upheld the current legal definition of birthright citizenship by a vote of six to three. This means the U.S. government can’t revoke birthright citizenship for children not born to at least one lawful resident parent. The decision hands the administration a major block on implementing stricter immigration enforcement measures.
Background
On January 20, 2025, the White House issued Executive Order 14160, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The order sought to deny birthright citizenship to children born on U.S. soil unless at least one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. Lower courts blocked the order almost immediately, and after the injunctions survived on appeal, the administration carried the fight to the Supreme Court. The result is Trump v. Barbara.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the Court, joined by Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, and Jackson. The Court grounded its holding in the original meaning of the Citizenship Clause and in long-settled precedent, including the 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which recognized that nearly every person born in the United States acquires citizenship at birth. Justice Kavanaugh concurred in the judgment in part and dissented in part. Justices Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissented.
Impact
The decision preserves the legal status quo for the millions of children born each year to noncitizen parents in the United States. According to the New York Times, an estimated fourteen million undocumented immigrants live in the country, and today’s ruling means their U.S.-born children will continue to receive citizenship at birth. Because the executive order had been enjoined throughout the litigation, no child will lose citizenship because of the order.
The ruling also forecloses any attempt to restrict birthright citizenship through executive action alone. Future efforts to narrow the constitutional guarantee would have to confront the same Fourteenth Amendment problem the Court identified today.
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