The US Supreme Court has ruled that children born in the United States are entitled to citizenship under the Constitution, rejecting President Donald Trump's attempt to end the long-established policy through executive action.
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Court rejects executive order
In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts said that children born in the US to parents who are in the country unlawfully or on a temporary basis are citizens from birth under the 14th Amendment.
Trump had sought to narrow the constitutional guarantee by arguing that children of undocumented immigrants and some temporary visitors were not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States and therefore should not automatically receive citizenship.
The ruling marks a significant defeat for the president's immigration agenda and preserves a constitutional principle that has been in place for more than 150 years.
Writing for the majority, Roberts said the framers of the 14th Amendment had extended the promise of citizenship to "every free-born person in this land".
"Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights – to freely participate in our political community," he wrote, adding: "We keep that promise today."
Trump vows to continue fight
Reacting on Truth Social, Trump described the decision as "too bad" and pledged to continue efforts to end birthright citizenship through Congress rather than by constitutional amendment.
"No long and unwieldy constitutional amendment is necessary," he wrote. "Congress should today start work on ending expensive, and unfair to our country, birthright citizenship."
The United States has recognised birthright citizenship since 1868, when the 14th Amendment was adopted following the Civil War. Originally intended to secure the rights of formerly enslaved people, the amendment states that all persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens of the country.
Sharp division among justices
Three conservative justices – Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito – dissented.
Justice Thomas argued that the 14th Amendment was being used beyond its original purpose, saying it had been "repurposed for political projects" and that the formerly enslaved people it was designed to protect "were Americans" who owed no allegiance to another country.
Justice Alito described the majority's decision as a "serious mistake", arguing it grants citizenship to almost anyone born in the United States, including children whose parents travel to the country specifically to give birth before returning home.
The case carried particular importance for Trump, who made a rare appearance at the Supreme Court during oral arguments in April.
Political reaction
White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller criticised the ruling, calling it "one of the most destructive and outrageous decisions" in the court's history.
Writing on X, he said: "American citizenship is not the birthright of the world. No provision of the Constitution can be read to require our national self-obliteration."
Democrats and civil rights groups welcomed the outcome.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said the Supreme Court had upheld both the Constitution and longstanding legal precedent by confirming that everyone born in the United States is an American citizen.
Dariely Rodriguez, chief counsel at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the judgment reaffirmed a principle that has existed for more than a century.
"Anyone born on American soil, regardless of the legal status of their parents, is born an American citizen," she said, adding that the decision demonstrated the country had "endured an incredible test of our collective will as a nation and have prevailed."
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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 1 July 2026