The Supreme Court has ruled that babies born in the US have a constitutional right to citizenship, rejecting Donald Trump’s bid to end the 150-year-old policy.
In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled that children born in the US “to parents unlawfully or temporarily present” are “citizens at birth” under the 14th amendment.
President Trump had sought to limit the right through an executive order, arguing that the children of undocumented immigrants and some temporary visitors were not “subject to the jurisdiction thereof”, and thus not eligible for birthright citizenship.
The ruling is a major setback for Trump’s immigration agenda, and has been welcomed by civil rights groups.
On Truth Social, Trump said that the court’s decision was “too bad” and vowed to continue to fight to end birthright citizenship through legislation.
“No long and unwieldy constitutional amendment is necessary,” he said. “Congress should today start work on ending expensive, and unfair to our country, birthright citizenship.”
The US has granted citizenship to everyone born in the country since 1868, with the right enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, and bolstered by later US Supreme Court rulings.
