Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order in Major Blow

The Supreme Court on June 30 rejected President Donald Trump’s attempt to redefine who is an American, striking down the limits on birthright citizenship that were a centerpiece of his hardline approach to immigration.

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But in other immigration cases, including last week’s ruling allowing Trump to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the justices backed the president’s authority.

In their latest decision, however, the justices said Trump cannot change the definition of birthright citizenship with the stroke of a pen. Trump’s push to make that change upended how the constitutional guarantee – long considered a bedrock American principle – had historically been understood.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said children born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily in the United States satisfy the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment.

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Three of the court’s other conservatives − Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch − dissented.

Thomas said the decision “devalues” American citizenship and is unlikely to “stand the test of time.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, another conservative and a Trump appointee, said he would have ruled against the order on a narrower ground.

Kavanaugh said the order does not violate the 14th Amendment but does run afoul of a 1952 immigration law.

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