The U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 vote shut down a Trump executive order denying automatic U.S. citizenship to babies born to illegal aliens on U.S. soil. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the majority, said the executive order violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s three liberal justices in the majority opinion.
Kavanaugh wrote a separate opinion saying Trump’s order violated federal law, but not the Constitution. He wrote that Congress has the power to create exceptions to birthright citizenship for “children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country.”
Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.
On his first day back in office, Trump signed an executive order denying automatic U.S. citizenship to babies unless one parent is either a U.S. citizen or a legal permanent resident at the time of the baby’s birth. In addition to children of undocumented parents, the executive order applied to babies born to parents who are in the country temporarily, such as people with student, work or tourist visas.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy said that Congress needs to act to end automatic citizenship for babies born in the U.S. unless they have a parent who is a citizen.
“The Supreme Court failed the American people, the Constitution, and the rule of law today not to mention the national security of the United States,” said Roy.
In 1868, Congress passed the 14th Amendment, which begins: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The Amendment was a reaction to the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott ruling that declared Black people of African descent were not U.S. citizens. Three decades after the 14th Amendment passed, the court rule in the case United States v. Wong Kim Ark that a child born in the U.S. to Chinese immigrants was a U.S. citizen.
Trump has called the practice “stupid,” without explaining why. He has erroneously said the U.S. is the only country to provide birthright citizenship. Analysis by the Pew Research Center found 32 countries have birthright citizenship laws similar to the 14th Amendment.
According to the Pew Research Center, about 250,000 babies were born to undocumented immigrants in the U.S., or 6% of the total births, in 2016, the latest year for which data is available.