The Supreme Court rules against Trump: anyone born in the US is an American citizen

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts referred to that 1898 decision when drafting the reasoning behind the ruling that struck down Trump’s executive order. Roberts joined a majority of six judges comprising the three judges on the progressive wing – Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson – and the conservative judges Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Three conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — dissented from the decision and thus supported Trump’s crackdown on ius soli.

«It is therefore not surprising that, over the following 128 years, we have repeatedly interpreted the Wong Kim Ark judgement as guaranteeing citizenship to all children born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction,” wrote Roberts. “We see no reason to depart from that interpretation today.” Roberts stated that there was ‘little evidence’ to support the Trump administration’s ‘drastically revisionist view’ on how to interpret the citizenship language of the 14th Amendment to limit birthright citizenship. “If Congress intended to limit American citizenship to the children of those domiciled in the United States, nothing in the concise language of the Citizenship Clause expressed that intent,” wrote Roberts.

The Supreme Court has ruled on what it means to be an American citizen just ahead of the 4 July celebrations, when the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding. Prior to the ruling, some experts had estimated that Trump’s executive order could have affected the legal status of as many as 260,000 babies born in the United States each year. It could also have forced the families of millions of other children to prove their children’s citizenship.

The legal challenge to Trump’s order, which was examined by the Supreme Court, concerned a class action brought in New Hampshire by parents and children whose citizenship was threatened by the directive. The 14th Amendment has long been interpreted as guaranteeing citizenship to children born in the United States, with few exceptions, such as the children of foreign diplomats or members of an enemy occupying force.

For years, Trump has threatened to restrict the right to citizenship by birth on US soil. Last year, the US president wrote on social media: ‘Birthright citizenship was not intended for people who go on holiday to become permanent citizens of the United States of America, bringing their families with them and laughing at us, who are idiots!’ And again: “The drug cartels love it! We are, for the sake of being politically correct, a stupid country, but in reality this is the exact opposite of being politically correct, and it is yet another factor contributing to America’s dysfunction.”

The Supreme Court, including two conservative justices, has however decided to reject Trump’s argument, reaffirming the United States’ historic and long-standing openness to migrants: “Children born in the United States to parents who are present illegally or on a temporary basis are subject to US jurisdiction and – as the judgement states – are citizens by birth, in accordance with the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment”.