In a stunning rebuke to the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, the US supreme court ruled against the president’s attempt to gut the ability for anyone born on American soil to obtain citizenship.
The president issued an executive order on the first day of his second term in office that sought to undo birthright citizenship. It swiftly drew lawsuits, including from the Democratic state attorneys general and the American Civil Liberties Union, and the court heard oral arguments in the case – Trump v Barbara – back in April.
In a 6-3 opinion, the justices ruled that the Trump administration violated a provision of the 14th amendment, which was affirmed by the supreme court 128 years ago. While conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred with the judgment, he dissented in parts.
The Trump administration said that children born to undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign visitors were ineligible for citizenship, arguing that the landmark decision on birthright citizenship – United States v Wong Kim Ark – relied on parents having permanent “domicile” in the US. However, the term is not included in the 14th amendment.