Implications for Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship agenda of the US Supreme Court’s decision

Trump’s plea for modest injunctions to stop his executive order ending birthright citizenship, or automatic citizenship rights, was granted the justices on Friday morning in a 6-3 vote along ideological lines. At least in the states that challenged it, the decision is a significant win for Trump and permits his administration to move forward with its plan to abolish birthright citizenship. However, the high court left open the question of birthright citizenship’s future, and it is still possible that modifications to it might be rejected countrywide.

On his Inauguration Day, Trump issued an executive order requiring that children born in the United States without at least one parent who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident no longer automatically obtain citizenship. Its goal is to restrict the more than a century-old birthright citizenship rights of children of illegal immigrants and those without temporary visas. However, a number of subordinate courts prevented his scheme from being carried out.

Trump asserted that the courts had overreached themselves by ordering the countrywide blockade of his programs, particularly his birthright citizenship scheme.

According to the Supreme Court, judges can only offer relief to the people or organizations filing the lawsuit; they cannot expand their rulings to include other parties without turning the case into a class action. In the majority ruling, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said, “The universal injunction was conspicuously nonexistent for the majority of our Nation’s history.” The constitutionality of Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, however, was not decided by the supreme court.

“The Court’s decision to permit the Executive to violate the Constitution with respect to anyone who has not yet sued is an existential threat to the rule of law,” wrote Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on behalf of the three liberal justices who ruled that Trump’s order is unlawful.

Immediately following the ruling, Trump celebrated it on Truth Social, writing, “A HUGE WIN for the US Supreme Court! Indirectly, the Birthright Citizenship hoax has also been severely impacted. He then referred to it as a “monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers, and the rule of law” during a rare appearance in the White House briefing room.

Wasn’t it a big one? “This was a significant choice,” he stated. “Wonderful choice, one we’re thrilled about.” Trump also criticized “the overuse of nationwide injunctions to interfere with the executive branch’s normal functioning.”