US Supreme Court to review constitutionality of Trump’s birthright citizenship order

The US Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

As per foreign media reports, the justices will hear Trump’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the citizenship restrictions. The order has not taken effect anywhere in the country. Arguments are expected in the spring, with a definitive ruling likely by early summer.

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Part of broader immigration crackdown

Signed on January 20, the first day of Trump’s second term, the birthright citizenship order is part of his administration’s wide-ranging immigration measures. Other actions include enforcement surges in several cities and the first peacetime invocation of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act.

The administration faces multiple court challenges, and the high court has issued mixed signals in related emergency orders. For example, the justices blocked the use of the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without court hearings, while allowing immigration stops in Los Angeles to resume after a lower court had blocked them. The court is also reviewing an emergency appeal to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago for immigration enforcement, which a lower court had indefinitely blocked.

This case marks the first Trump immigration-related policy to reach the Supreme Court for a final ruling. The order would overturn more than 125 years of understanding that the 14th Amendment grants citizenship to anyone born on US soil, with narrow exceptions for children of foreign diplomats and occupying forces.

Lower courts have consistently found the executive order unconstitutional, or likely so, even after a Supreme Court ruling in June that limited the use of nationwide injunctions. The case under review originates from New Hampshire, where a federal judge in July blocked the citizenship order in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all affected children. The American Civil Liberties Union is leading the legal team representing the children and their parents.

“No president can change the 14th Amendment’s fundamental promise of citizenship,” Cecillia Wang, the ACLU’s national legal director, said in a statement, adding, “We look forward to putting this issue to rest once and for all in the Supreme Court this term.”