The US Supreme Court has handed Donald Trump a major victory in his fight to end automatic birthright citizenship.
The court voted 6-3 on Friday to limit the power of lower court judges to block Trump’s policy across the entire country. This means Trump’s plan can now move forward in many states, even as legal challenges continue.
Trump signed an executive order on his first day back in office in January to end birthright citizenship, part of his aggressive early agenda upon returning to power. Under current rules, nearly anyone born on US soil automatically becomes a citizen. Several district courts had issued nationwide injunctions to stop the policy from taking effect. The Supreme Court’s ruling allows the Trump administration to narrow these injunctions so they only apply to the states and groups that filed lawsuits.
At a White House news conference, Trump defended his policy and criticized current birthright citizenship rules, continuing his long-standing, controversial positions on immigration. He said the system was being abused and claimed “it wasn’t meant for people trying to scam the system and come into the country on a vacation.” Trump argued that birthright citizenship was originally designed to give citizenship rights to the descendants of slaves, not for people he believes are exploiting the system.
The Supreme Court’s decision affects specific legal challenges
The Friday ruling focused on cases filed in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state. However, the policy remains blocked in New Hampshire due to a separate lawsuit that was not part of this Supreme Court decision. Trump’s birthright citizenship plan has support from 21 other states across the country.
The Supreme Court split along ideological lines, with the six conservative justices supporting Trump’s position and the three liberal justices dissenting. Trump had previously appointed three justices to the court during his first presidency, creating the current 6-3 conservative majority. However, this court has not always ruled in Trump’s favor on other issues.
The ruling does not address whether Trump’s policy is actually legal or constitutional. Instead, it only deals with whether judges had the authority to block the policy nationwide. Legal experts from both sides have long agreed that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment gives automatic citizenship to almost anyone born in the United States. Trump wants to change this so that only children with at least one parent who is a US citizen or permanent resident would automatically get citizenship. The policy can now potentially move forward across the country, though individuals and groups can still file new lawsuits at the state level to challenge it.
Published: Jun 27, 2025 02:31 pm