US Supreme Court Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order: What It Means for Indians | Today’s news
In a major blow to Donald Trump, the US Supreme Court on Tuesday (30 June) struck down the president’s executive order aimed at ending birthright birth. The decision is also a significant loss for the Republican leader, who ran his presidential campaign on ending “birth tourism” and whose second term has been largely defined by his efforts to crack down on both illegal and legal immigration.
The SCOTUS blow to Donald Trump’s primogeniture executive order also brings relief to Indians residing in the US on H-1B visas.
Birthright citizenship represents the 160-year-old practice of granting citizenship to anyone born on American soil, a principle enshrined in the Constitution through the 14th Amendment.
Let’s take a closer look at why the SCOTUS ruling matters.
A setback for Donald Trump
The Supreme Court struck down Trump’s executive order on Tuesday, June 30.
Crucially, the court’s ruling preserves the long-held US constitutional understanding that anyone born on American soil is automatically entitled to citizenship, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Read also | US Supreme Court upholds primogeniture and rejects Trump’s executive order
Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, which drew support from both conservative and liberal justices on the bench. Three conservative justices, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, dissented from the decision.
“Citizenship then and now was the right to have rights, to participate freely in our political community,” Roberts wrote for the court. “The founders of the Fourteenth Amendment extended this promise to ‘every free-born person in this country.’ We keep that promise today.”
Roberts breaks down the domicile argument
One of the main arguments of the Trump administration’s legal team was that the 14th Amendment requires individuals to be domiciled in the United States, meaning they intend to stay permanently, before their children can obtain birthright citizenship. Roberts, writing for the majority, flatly rejected this argument.
“If Congress had intended to make citizenship conditional on each individual’s residence, a question ‘sometimes very difficult to decide,’ it is reasonable to expect that there would be at least some discussion on the subject,” Roberts wrote.
Read also | Birthright Citizenship: What You Should Know Ahead of US Supreme Court Decision
“Yet the word ‘domicile’ appears only twice in the discussion of the relevant provision of the Civil Rights Act. And it appears in only one speech from the debates on the Citizenship Clause, as part of an explanation of why citizenship under the Constitution is different from citizenship.”
Why is the Indian diaspora involved in this verdict
The United States is currently home to an estimated 5.4 million people of Indian origin, roughly 1.6 percent of the country’s total population, according to available official data.
A significant number of these individuals work in the United States on H-1B visas, particularly in technology, engineering, healthcare, and finance.
If the administration’s executive order survives judicial review, any change to the first-born citizenship rules would directly affect countless families who planned to have children while in the United States.
Pregnancy and childbirth rights for H-1B workers remain unchanged
There are no US immigration laws or visa regulations that prevent H-1B visa holders or individuals with other valid temporary visas from becoming pregnant or giving birth in the United States.
Read also | Trump stokes citizenship row by reposting Indian comment
Following the US Supreme Court’s ruling, children born to these families on US soil will continue to be recognized as US citizens at birth under the citizenship provisions of the 14th Amendment.
Why US citizenship for a child does not extend to the parents
A child born in the United States automatically acquires US citizenship, but this status does not apply to the child’s parents.
Those holding H-1B visas or other temporary visas must continue to independently maintain their own legal immigration status.
Under current US immigration law, a child who is a US citizen cannot be sponsored by their parents for permanent residency until they reach the age of 21.
H-1B Visa Timeline Explained
The H-1B visa continues to be fully governed by existing immigration regulations. Once selected in the H-1B lottery and subsequently approved, the worker typically receives a visa valid for up to three years. Employers can generally extend this period by a further three years, bringing the standard maximum length of stay to six years overall.
Read also | US Supreme Court Birthright Hearing – Why is the 1880 ruling in the spotlight?
If an individual reaches this six-year limit without being eligible for another extension through a pending employment-based green card application, they are generally required to leave the United States.
After spending one uninterrupted year outside the country, these individuals may re-enter the H-1B lottery for a new six-year cycle.
The Dilemma of Dual Citizenship for Children of Indian Origin
India does not allow full dual citizenship. A child born in the United States to Indian parents acquires American citizenship automatically at birth.
Although this child cannot hold full Indian citizenship at the same time, the parents retain the option of applying for an Overseas Citizen of India card, which provides lifetime visa-free travel to India along with broad residency rights.
Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship
Trump’s executive order sought to end automatic U.S. citizenship for children born to parents residing in the United States illegally or on temporary visas, including H-1B workers.
Read also | Trump’s Controversial Birthright Citizenship Policy: The Case So Far
Lower federal courts had already blocked the order before the Supreme Court got involved, ruling that it violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
