Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship

A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship. The decision rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring that children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

By a 6-3 vote, the court struck down Trump’s order. A bare majority of five justices, in an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, held that the long-settled understanding of the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, makes a citizen of anyone born in the country, with very limited exceptions,

“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights – to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land,’” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court, citing congressional debate over the amendment, “We keep that promise today.”

Brett Kavanaugh, the sixth judge, disagreed with the constitutional ruling but pointed to a federal law that he said broadly conveys birthright citizenship. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas would have upheld Trump’s proposed restrictions.

Reacting to the decision, Trump said it was “too bad for our Country” and wrongly suggested that Congress could “easily” address it with legislation. The majority decision rests on constitutional grounds. It would take an amendment to overcome the decision.

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The Birthright Citizenship Ruling
Category	Details
The Case	Trump v. Barbara (No. 25-365), decided on June 30, 2026.
The Ruling	In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court struck down President Trump's Executive Order 14160, ruling that the executive branch cannot unilaterally deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to undocumented immigrants or temporary visa holders.
The Law	The decision forcefully reaffirms the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, ruling that the phrase "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" applies to virtually everyone born in the United States, aside from narrow historical exceptions like children of foreign diplomats.
The Majority	Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, joining liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, alongside conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in the judgment.
The Dissent	Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented. Thomas argued that citizenship requires established "domicile" and allegiance to the country, asserting the 14th Amendment was originally designed specifically for freed slaves, not the children of foreign nationals.
The Impact	The ruling maintains the 150-year-old legal status quo of jus soli (right of the soil), providing massive legal relief to immigrant communities and dealing a significant blow to the administration's broader immigration agenda.