The US Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down Donald Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, delivering a major defeat to a central piece of the Trump administration's agenda. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, ruling that the order violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
Majority Opinion: 'Citizenship is the Right to Have Rights'
Roberts wrote that 'citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights – to freely participate in our political community.' He added, 'The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to every free-born person in this land. We keep that promise today.' Roberts was joined by the court's liberal justices – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson – as well as conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Concurrences and Dissents
Justice Jackson wrote a concurring opinion, joined in part by Sotomayor, rebuking Justice Thomas's interpretation of the Citizenship Clause. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the judgment but dissented in part, arguing the order was unlawful under federal law but not unconstitutional. Three conservative justices – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch – filed dissenting opinions. The court's writings totaled nearly 200 pages.
Key Quotes from the Ruling
Roberts noted 'scant evidence' for the Trump administration's 'dramatically revisionist view' of the 14th Amendment. Jackson warned against 'the distortion of historical facts,' stating that the government's account 'pitches Black Americans against immigrants when the advocates who promoted the Fourteenth Amendment did no such thing.' Thomas wrote that 'many potential applications of the President's Order are consistent with the original public meaning of the Citizenship Clause,' adding, 'I am not sure that today's opinion will stand the test of time.' Alito called the decision 'one of the most important in the history of the Court' and said 'the Court has made a serious mistake.'
Impact and Next Steps
Kavanaugh noted that Congress could 'amend or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country,' but has not yet done so. The ruling affirms that children born on U.S. soil are citizens under the 14th Amendment, regardless of their parents' immigration status.
