US Supreme Court to Hear Case on Ending Birthright Citizenship

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will determine whether the century-old constitutional right of birthright citizenship will continue. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office in January to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or on temporary visas. The order was blocked by lower courts over constitutional concerns.

The Supreme Court’s ruling, expected after oral arguments are scheduled, will either uphold citizenship rights for children of migrants or end them. Plaintiffs in the case include immigrant parents and their infants, who argue that the executive order violates the 14th Amendment.

For nearly 160 years, the 14th Amendment has guaranteed that anyone born in the United States is a US citizen, with exceptions only for children of diplomats or foreign military personnel. Its text states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

Trump’s administration argued that the amendment was never intended to cover children of undocumented or temporary-status immigrants. Several federal courts had ruled that the order was unconstitutional, issuing injunctions to prevent it from taking effect. After appealing to the Supreme Court, the justices previously ruled that lower courts had exceeded their authority with nationwide injunctions, though they did not address the core constitutional question of birthright citizenship itself.