Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, blocks Trump order

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the right to citizenship for people born in the United States, rejecting an executive order by President Donald Trump that sought to undo that longstanding constitutional principle for children born to many immigrants.

The court’s justices had signaled during oral arguments in April that they would affirm that individuals born in the United States to non-U.S. citizens are automatically granted citizenship.

Trump attended the oral arguments for the case, the first sitting president ever to do so.

The case is known as Trump v. Barbara.

The citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which was adopted in 1868, says,“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Trump, on his first day back in the White House on Jan. 20, 2025, signed an executive order seeking to undo that right.

The order said that 30 days after its effective date, babies born in the U.S. were not entitled to be issued citizenship documents if their parents had immigrated illegally or were undocumented workers.

Several U.S. district court judges afterwards ruled that Trump’s order violated the Constitution.

And two federal appellate circuit courts upheld injunctions blocking the order from taking effect.