Trump calls Supreme Court decision on birthright citizenship ‘a shame’, urges Congress to end citizenship by law | Today’s news
President Donald Trump on Tuesday (June 30) urged Congress to pass a law ending first-born citizenship after the US Supreme Court struck down his executive order that sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump 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 fix it in Congress through legislation with the President’s support,” Trump wrote.
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 “full and complete support.”
Supreme Court confirms primogeniture of citizenship
Earlier Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship to children born in the United States, including those whose parents are in the country illegally or on temporary visas.
The court struck down Trump’s executive order, reaffirming a longstanding 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 participate freely in our political community.”
The decision added: “Children born in the United States to parents illegally or temporarily present are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and are citizens at birth under the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
Trump’s executive order blocked
Trump signed the executive order within hours of his second term in office last January as part of a broader crackdown on immigration.
The order would limit automatic US citizenship to children with at least one parent who was legally present in the United States.
Trump also took part in 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 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, states:
“All persons born or naturalized in and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are citizens of the United States and of the State in which they reside.”
Clarence Thomas disagrees
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that parts of Trump’s executive order are consistent with the original meaning of the Citizenship Clause.
“Because many of the potential applications of the presidential 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 residing in the United States regardless of race.
Hundreds of thousands of births would be affected
If upheld, Trump’s executive order would affect the legal status of nearly 250,000 children born in the United States each year and require families to establish the parents’ immigration or citizenship status before newborns can become U.S. citizens.
