Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship in 6-3 Ruling but Splits 5-4 on Constitutional Grounds

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship on Tuesday, ruling 6-3 that children born in the United States to mothers present illegally or temporarily remain citizens under the 14th Amendment. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justice Amy Coney Barrett and the three liberal justices.

The opinion stated that "Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights—to freely participate in our political community. ’" Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the outcome but wrote separately that a federal law, rather than the Constitution alone, supports birthright citizenship. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented.

Trump signed the order on the first day of his second term. The court heard arguments in April, when Trump attended in person. The justices ruled on his appeal of a New Hampshire district court decision that had blocked the order.

The order would have affected more than 250,000 births each year, according to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute and Pennsylvania State University’s Population Research Institute. It marked the first Trump immigration policy to reach the Supreme Court for a final ruling. Trump said the decision was "too bad for our Country" and that Congress could "easily" address it with legislation.

The majority rested its holding on constitutional grounds, meaning only a constitutional amendment could reverse it.