President Donald Trump on Tuesday (June 30) urged Congress to pass legislation ending after the US Supreme Court struck down his .
In a post on Truth Social, said lawmakers should move quickly to change the law.
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President,” Trump wrote.
Quick answers to key questions
What is birthright citizenship in the United States?⌵
Birthright citizenship is the legal right for individuals born on U.S. soil to automatically receive U.S. citizenship, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, as stipulated by the 14th Amendment.
Why did the Supreme Court uphold birthright citizenship?⌵
The Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship to reaffirm the longstanding interpretation of the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause, ensuring that nearly everyone born in the U.S. is granted citizenship at birth.
How would Trump’s executive order have changed birthright citizenship?⌵
Trump’s executive order aimed to limit birthright citizenship by denying automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. if their parents were in the country illegally or on temporary visas, but was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court.
What implications does the Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship have for immigrant families?⌵
The ruling protects immigrant families, ensuring their children born in the U.S. can acquire citizenship without needing to prove their parents’ immigration status, thus avoiding legal complications.
Should Congress take action on birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court ruling?⌵
While President Trump urged Congress to legislate against birthright citizenship, the Supreme Court’s ruling maintains that any significant changes to this constitutional principle would likely require a constitutional amendment.
He added that “no long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary” and called on Congress to “start TODAY” to end what he described as “expensive and unfair” birthright citizenship, pledging his “Complete and Total Support.”
Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship
Earlier on Tuesday, the , including those whose parents are in the country unlawfully or on temporary visas.
The court rejected Trump’s executive order, reaffirming the long-standing interpretation of the Constitution’s Citizenship Clause.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 5-4 majority, said: “Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community.”
The ruling added: “Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.”
Trump’s executive order blocked
as part of a broader immigration crackdown.
The order would have limited automatic US citizenship to children with at least one parent who was legally present in the United States.
Trump also attended oral arguments before the Supreme Court on April 1, becoming the first sitting US president to do so in a case involving one of his own administration’s policies.
Court reaffirms the 14th Amendment
Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment states:
“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.”
Clarence Thomas dissents
Justice Clarence Thomas, in a dissenting opinion, argued that parts of Trump’s executive order were consistent with the original meaning of the Citizenship Clause.
“Because many potential applications of the President’s Order are consistent with the original public meaning of the Citizenship Clause, I respectfully dissent,” Thomas wrote.
He also noted that both the Civil Rights Act and the Citizenship Clause guaranteed citizenship to people born and domiciled in the United States regardless of race.
Hundreds of thousands of births would have affected
Had Trump’s executive order been upheld, it would have affected the legal status of nearly 250,000 babies born in the each year, requiring families to establish the immigration or citizenship status of parents before newborns could receive US citizenship.
