Birthright Citizenship Upheld As Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Proposed Limits

The Supreme Court rejected President Donald Trump’s attempts to limit birthright citizenship handing the administration a loss over what has become a key part of its immigration policy.

The highly anticipated decision that was handed down on June 30 comes in response to the administration’s controversial executive order that sought to set aside the amendment and end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants and immigrants on temporary visas. Trump signed the executive order on January 20, 2025.

The act prompted a flurry of lawsuits. The next day, Attorney General Letitia James announced a lawsuit against the administration, which eventually grew to a coalition of 22 states.

After lower courts blocked the order from being enforced, the Trump administration appealed the rulings, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

Ultimately, the landmark 6-3 decision found that the order was unconstitutional. As outlined by the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, birthright citizenship guarantees U.S. citizenship to children born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents’ citizenship status.

“Birthright citizenship is a constitutional guarantee that has defined this nation for generations,” James said in a response celebrating the decision. “Our country was built by immigrants, and we draw our strength from those who come here seeking a better life. Today’s ruling preserves that promise for generations to come.”

The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 to ensure civil rights to formerly enslaved people. In 1898, in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the courts further affirmed that the amendment applied regardless of the citizenship of one’s parents. The Trump executive order drew rebukes from many, including Republicans, who said that it violated this long standing language.

“We’re relieved—but we shouldn’t have to be,” said Hae-Lin Choi, co-director of Hands Off NYC. “That a presidential administration even attempted to unilaterally undo a constitutional pillar of our democracy should be cause for concern.”

Some worried that if it were overturned, it would create a class of people without citizenship in any country and impose a complex burden on Americans to prove their citizenship.

There are 3.1 million immigrants in New York City, representing over one-third of the city’s population, according to the Center for Migration Studies. The organization estimates that around 535,000 of these immigrants are undocumented.

The Center for Migration Studies has also found that in NYC, 1 out of 11 children with U.S. citizenship has at least one undocumented parent.

While the Trump administration said the order would not be retroactive, overturning birthright citizenship would complicate the citizenship of a large portion of New York-born children moving forward.

“Revoking birthright citizenship will only deepen the economic insecurities that mixed-status families currently experience, leaving them as collateral damage for an unnecessary constitutional adjustment,” Marwa Janini, Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York had stated.

The issue has also raised concerns over the economic implications of overturning the amendment. Currently, the U.S. fertility rate stands at 1.57 births per woman, between the ages of 15 and 40, far below the replacement rate of 2.1. If the rate continues to fall, the U.S. will become an aging population, which can shrink a country’s workforce and, therefore, GDP and complicate the Social Security trust fund which relies on existing workers to pay for the retired workforce to keep the plan solvent.

In 2023, nine percent of U.S. births were to mothers who were undocumented or on temporary immigrants, according to Pew Research Center. Migrant families tend to be younger parents with higher birth rates than the native population. If the migrants were banished and not considered U.S. citizens, this would drag the fertility rate even closer to what is called the “low-fertility trap”— when the fertility rate hits 1.3, and low birth rates become difficult to reverse.

Despite this, a growing Conservative movement has sought to end what is referred to as “birth tourism,” which is the act of a pregnant woman traveling to a country to give birth to secure a child’s citizenship status.

In a Truth Social post, Trump addressed the decision with disappointment. Despite the order’s permanent block from the courts, he suggested there were other ways to achieve a limit to birthright citizenship through legislation.

“Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship,” the statement read.

However, such an act by Congress would require a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House and then need to be ratified by three fourths of the states.

Though the decision represents a win for the Democratic Party, it also comes amidst a broader attack on the legal status of immigrants.

In a joint statement responding to the decision, Speaker Julie Menin and Council Member Elsie Encarnación reaffirmed City Council’s commitment to legally support immigrant New Yorkers as outlined in the FY27 budget.

“That commitment is reflected in the budget agreement we reached today, which includes a historic $81.8 million investment in immigrant legal services to help ensure New Yorkers have access to the representation and due process they deserve,” the statement read.