US President urges Supreme Court to scrap birthright citizenship for kids of immigrants
Review of Trump’s high-profile decree in the US Supreme Court in question (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
The administration of US President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the decree to end automatic birthright citizenship, according to CNN.
In its appeal, the administration argues that the current practice of granting citizenship by birth threatens the security of US borders.
Solicitor General John Sauer stated that the lower court’s ruling overturned a key policy of the president and his team and undermined the security of American borders.
He emphasized that the courts are granting American citizenship to hundreds of thousands of people who have no legal right to it.
The administration insists that the historic 1898 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which established birthright citizenship in the US, was misinterpreted.
In their view, that ruling applied only to children of immigrants who had a permanent residence in the country.
Constitutional controversy
The executive order signed by President Trump in January, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” prohibits granting citizenship to children whose parents were in the US illegally or on temporary visas at the time of their birth.
However, this policy was quickly challenged in the courts. In July, the federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld a nationwide block of the order. Additionally, a judge in New Hampshire issued a similar ruling in a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
ACLU attorney Cody Wofsy stated that this order is illegal, and no actions by the administration will change that fact.
He added that the organization will continue to fight to ensure that no child is deprived of citizenship because of this cruel and senseless order.
Uncertain future
Earlier, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated in its ruling that Trump’s executive order directly contradicts the Constitution’s citizenship provisions, the precedent set in Wong Kim Ark, and decades of established executive practice.
“The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,” wrote Judge Ronald Gould on behalf of the majority.
At the same time, it is currently unknown whether at least four of the nine Supreme Court justices will agree to hear the case on its merits, as required by procedure.
Controversial order
Donald Trump signed the executive order on January 20, 2025. It cancels the so-called birthright citizenship, under which anyone born on US soil is automatically granted citizenship.
The following day, Federal Judge John Coughenour imposed a 14-day injunction blocking the enforcement of Trump’s order. He did so in response to a request from Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and three other Democratic prosecutors.
Attorneys general from 22 states filed lawsuits seeking to declare the president’s order illegal.
