Supreme Court Voids Trump Birthright Citizenship Order in 6-3 Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 30 that President Donald Trump's executive order restricting birthright citizenship violates the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision came in a 6-3 vote.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. authored the majority opinion. Five justices held that the clause guarantees citizenship to children of undocumented migrants and temporary visitors. The majority opinion cited the 1898 precedent United States v.

Wong Kim Ark. It stated that the clause enshrines the principle that soil, not blood, determines citizenship and that citizenship is the right to have rights and to freely participate in the political community. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a three-page dissent.

He stated that the executive order is fully lawful on its face. Gorsuch added that he would be open to a later constitutional challenge if the order were applied to deny citizenship to children whose parents have made the U.S. their permanent home.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a 91-page dissent that Gorsuch signed. Thomas stated that the Citizenship Clause ratified in 1868 was designed to secure equal rights for freed blacks after slavery. The full set of opinions in the case totaled 194 pages.

President Trump responded to the ruling by calling for Congress to act to end birthright citizenship.