Guwahati: The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump‘s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, upholding a lower court order that blocked his executive directive denying automatic citizenship to certain children born in the United States.
In a 6-3 decision, the court upheld the injunction against Trump’s executive order, which directed federal agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the US if neither parent is an American citizen or a lawful permanent resident, commonly known as a green card holder.
Trump signed the order on his first day back in office as part of a broader immigration crackdown. The directive was immediately challenged on the grounds that it violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
The legal challenge before the court stemmed from a class-action lawsuit filed in New Hampshire by parents and children who argued that the executive order unlawfully threatened the citizenship of children born in the United States.
The Citizenship Clause of 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 and of the state wherein they reside.” The provision has long been interpreted as guaranteeing birthright citizenship, with limited exceptions such as the children of foreign diplomats or members of an occupying enemy force.
The Trump administration argued that the constitutional phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” excludes children born to immigrants who are in the country illegally or whose presence is lawful but temporary, including students and temporary workers. It maintained that citizenship should be limited to children whose parents owe their “primary allegiance” to the United States through lawful permanent residence.
Following the ruling, Trump said he would seek to end birthright citizenship through legislation.
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation,” he wrote on Truth Social, urging Republican lawmakers to begin work on a bill.
The ruling marks the second major setback for the Trump administration this year after the Supreme Court struck down its sweeping global tariff policy in February.