The Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship on Tuesday, delivering a decisive 6-3 rejection of President Trump’s executive order that sought to end automatic citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, affirming that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to virtually all children born on U.S. soil.
Trump signed the executive order on January 20, 2025, his first day in office, declaring that children born in the United States to parents without citizenship or permanent resident status would not be automatic citizens. The order never took effect. Every lower court judge who reviewed it concluded it was unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court’s decision firmly rejected the administration’s attempt to rewrite 160 years of established law.
Roberts emphasized that the men who wrote the 14th Amendment after the Civil War deliberately chose broad language to confer citizenship on children, not parents. “Citizenship then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community,” Roberts wrote. The amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
The Court grounded its reasoning in the landmark 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which established that a child born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents was a U.S. citizen. That precedent has remained untouched for more than a century, even during periods of intense hostility toward immigrants. During World War II, when Japanese citizens were held as enemy aliens in detention camps on U.S. soil, their newborn children were automatically granted American citizenship because they were born here. Congress later codified this legal understanding into federal law.
Trump had long maintained that the Constitution does not guarantee birthright citizenship, arguing the amendment was meant only for former slaves and “wasn’t meant for the entire world to occupy the United States.” But Roberts’ opinion noted there was “scant evidence” supporting the administration’s radical reinterpretation. The Fourteenth Amendment was enacted to ensure that everyone, including former slaves, would have full rights as citizens.
Three conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch—would have sided with Trump, saying the 14th Amendment allows his executive order. One conservative, Brett Kavanaugh, agreed the order was unlawful but on statutory grounds rather than constitutional ones, joining the six-justice majority on the outcome.
The decision marks Trump’s third significant Supreme Court loss in recent months, following February’s ruling that invalidated his sweeping tariffs and Monday’s decision that barred him from immediately firing Federal Reserve member Lisa Cook. The Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices Trump himself appointed, yet has ruled against him on major constitutional questions.
Sources
- NPR — Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion affirming birthright citizenship and rejecting Trump’s executive order; details on Wong Kim Ark precedent and historical context
- NBC News — 6-3 Supreme Court decision on June 30, 2026; Trump’s executive order details; Justice Kavanaugh’s separate reasoning; dissenting justices identified
