US Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship, Strikes Down Trump Order
On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) upheld birthright citizenship as guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, striking down President Donald Trump's Executive Order 14160. The 6-3 ruling affirms that any person born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen, regardless of their parents' immigration status, except for children of foreign diplomats or invading military forces.
President Trump's executive order, issued earlier in 2025, had directed federal agencies to stop issuing citizenship-recognising documents such as social security numbers and passports to children born after February 19, 2025, under two conditions: (i) if the mother was unlawfully present and the father was not a citizen or lawful permanent resident, or (ii) if the mother was lawfully but temporarily present (e.g., on student, tourist, or guest worker visas) and the father was not a citizen or permanent resident.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, states: “All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA) reinforces this constitutional provision, declaring that a person born in the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction is a citizen “at birth.” The Supreme Court examined whether birthright citizenship is solely a statutory guarantee or both statutory and constitutional. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, limited his ruling to the statutory question, leaving the constitutional question for another day.
Birthright citizenship became a prominent political issue during Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, framed within the broader anti-immigration politics of the 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) movement. Trump attended oral arguments in the case on April 1, 2026, underscoring its political significance. However, the issue predates Trump: Democratic Senator Harry Reid's 1993 Immigration Stabilization Act proposed a narrower reading of the 14th Amendment. Critics of birthright citizenship argue that a large number of non-citizens, both authorised and unauthorised residents, have children who automatically become U.S. citizens, thereby affecting population composition.
Demographic data shows that births to unauthorised immigrant mothers rose from about 1.2 lakh in 1990 (3% of all U.S. births) to a peak of roughly 3.7–3.9 lakh in 2006–2007 (9% of births), mirroring the tripling of the unauthorised immigrant population over that period. After the 2008 financial crisis, the trend reversed, falling to about 2.5 lakh (6%) by 2016. However, the Pew Research Center reports that births to unauthorised or temporary-status immigrant mothers grew rapidly again between 2019 and 2023, reaching an estimated 9% of all U.S. births in 2023.
The Supreme Court's decision reaffirms the longstanding interpretation that birthright citizenship is a constitutional right, though the debate over its scope and implications remains politically charged.
