The US Supreme Court today issued a 6-3 ruling, upholding the principle that nearly all individuals born on US soil are entitled to US citizenship.
This ruling overturns an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on 20/1/2025. The order aimed to deny passports, certificates of nationality, or other documents to children born in the US to mothers residing in the country illegally or temporarily, whose fathers were neither US citizens nor permanent residents.
Lower courts had previously blocked this action, citing the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states that nearly everyone born on US territory is a US citizen. The majority of Supreme Court justices concurred with this interpretation.
"Children born in the US to parents illegally or temporarily present in the country are still 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the US and are citizens from birth under the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause," Chief Justice John Roberts stated in the ruling.
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Outside the US Supreme Court in Washington D.C. on 25/6. Photo: AP |
In an unprecedented move for a sitting US president, Trump personally attended the Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship in April. He listened to the arguments presented by General Solicitor John Sauer, representing the government, but did not stay for the arguments of attorney Cecillia Wang, who defended the principle of birthright citizenship.
Sauer argued that maintaining unrestricted birthright citizenship has encouraged illegal immigration and "birth tourism," where individuals travel to the US specifically to give birth and secure citizenship for their children.
The 14th Amendment, ratified by the US Congress in 1868, declares that "all persons born or naturalized in the US, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the US and of the state wherein they reside." This policy was originally intended to ensure that children of slaves brought to the US against their will were recognized as US citizens.
Since its ratification, this right has been applied to all children born in the US, regardless of whether their parents were undocumented immigrants or arrived on tourist or student visas.
However, Trump and his allies have for years criticized this as a "ridiculous rule," claiming it encourages illegal immigration and "birth tourism." They argue that this right is being abused and that conditions for becoming a US citizen need to be tightened.
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President Trump signs an executive order on his first day in his second term, 20/1/2025. Photo: AP |
The Trump administration contended that the 14th Amendment was intended to address citizenship for freed slaves and does not apply to children of undocumented immigrants or short-term visitors.
Trump's executive order was based on the premise that individuals residing in the US illegally or on temporary visas are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the US, and therefore, their children should not automatically receive citizenship.
However, the US Supreme Court previously rejected this interpretation in a landmark 1898 ruling concerning Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in 1873 to parents who had immigrated from China.
After returning to China, Wong Kim Ark was denied re-entry to the US in 1895 under the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Supreme Court, however, concluded that he was a US citizen because he was born on US territory.
Huyen Le (According to AFP)
