The U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, ensuring that every child born in the United States, regardless of their parents’ legal status, is a citizen and handing a victory to immigrant families and civil rights advocates. In a 6-3 decision Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that there was no reason to depart from the 1898 decision that codified the right into law. In the case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the court recognized that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution grants citizenship by birth to those born on U.S. soil, including children born to foreign parents.
Justice John Roberts, who wrote the decision, said that since the 19th-century case, “We have repeatedly understood the rule of Wong Kim Ark to guarantee citizenship to all children born in the United States and subject to its power.” “We see no reason to depart from that view today,” he wrote. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Jackson joined Roberts in the decision.
