The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, AP reported.
The court, in a 6-3 verdict, upheld the right to US citizenship for nearly everyone born on American soil.
Trump had signed the executive order on January 20 last year – the first day of his second term – removing the automatic recognition of citizenship for US-born children of parents who were in the country illegally, and for children of parents on temporary visas.
However, lower courts had halted the order, citing the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
The amendment states that all persons “born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” are citizens of the United States. The provision has only certain narrow exceptions, such as the children of foreign diplomats.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court, in a majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, agreed with the lower courts, AFP reported.
“Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause,” the news agency quoted the chief justice as saying.
The executive order would have denied citizenship to children born on US soil starting 30 days from the order, if at least one parent was not a United States citizen or a lawful permanent resident. The order had been challenged in court by 22 states in the US.
Three days after Trump signed the order, a lower court temporarily blocked it and described it as “blatantly unconstitutional”.
On April 1, the US president attended a hearing in the case before the Supreme Court, becoming the first sitting US president to attend such a session.
“We are the only country in the world stupid enough to allow ‘birthright’ citizenship!” he had said on social media that day.
Since Trump came to power for a second term in early 2025, his administration has launched a crackdown on immigration, and has carried out mass deportations.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has told Parliament that more than 3,000 Indians were deported from the US in 2025.
Edited by Sneha.
Also read: The case for and against US birthright citizenship as the Supreme Court takes up the matter
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