US Supreme Court rejects Trump's restriction to birthright citizenship

• The decision keeps a lower court's block on the executive order.
• Chief Justice John Roberts cited the United States v. Wong Kim Ark precedent.
• The order could have affected up to 250,000 newborns annually, according to prior estimates.

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an attempt by Donald Trump to restrict birthright citizenship, ruling 6-3 against an executive directive that sought to alter how the 14th Amendment is applied to children of foreign nationals.

The decision affirms a lower court's injunction against the executive order.

The policy had directed federal agencies to withhold recognition of automatic citizenship for children born in the United States unless at least one parent was a US citizen or a legal permanent resident holding a "green card."

Constitutional debate

The legal battle centered on the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," are citizens.

The Trump administration countered that "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" requires a "primary allegiance" to the United States, established via "lawful domicile" (permanent residence with intent to remain). Under this interpretation, the administration argued the clause excludes children of undocumented immigrants, temporary visa holders, and foreign university students.

Writing for the majority, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts rejected the administration's interpretation, pointing to the court's 128-year-old precedent in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898).

"Not surprisingly, then, in the 128 years since, we have repeatedly understood the rule of Wong Kim Ark to guarantee citizenship to all children born in the United States and subject to its power," Roberts wrote. "We see no reason to depart from that view today."

Roberts added that there was "scant evidence" to support the administration's "dramatically revisionist view" of the text, noting that if Congress had intended to limit citizenship to children of those permanently domiciled, "nothing in the succinct language of the Citizenship Clause conveyed that design."

Case background 

The case reached the nation's highest court following a class-action lawsuit filed in New Hampshire by parents and children whose citizenship statuses were affected by the directive.

In July 2025, US District Judge Joseph Laplante allowed the challenge to proceed as a class, effectively blocking the policy nationwide.

Although the Supreme Court granted Trump a separate procedural victory last year regarding the limits of federal judges to curb nationwide policies, it did not rule on the legality of the citizenship directive itself until Tuesday.

During oral arguments on April 1 -which Trump attended in person before exiting midway through- US Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the 14th Amendment was originally intended only to grant citizenship to newly freed slaves and their descendants.

Sauer also asserted that automatic birthright citizenship had created a "birth tourism" industry involving thousands of foreign nationals, though he conceded under questioning that his data relied primarily on media reports.

Before the ruling, demographic experts estimated the directive could have directly altered the status of roughly 250,000 infants born annually, while forcing millions of other families to formally verify the legal status of their newborns.

Judicial context

Tuesday's decision marked the end of the Supreme Court's current term and represents the second major rejection of a core Trump administration policy this year, following the court's February decision to strike down sweeping global emergency tariffs.

On Monday, the court also blocked Trump's attempt to dismiss Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

However, the court's 6-3 conservative majority has frequently sided with the administration's immigration agenda.

The ruling concludes active litigation on the executive order just ahead of the July 4 holiday, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.