THE United States Supreme Court has struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented immigrants and temporary residents.
In a 6-3 decision delivered on Tuesday, the court ruled that the US Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born on American soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
The ruling is a major setback for Trump’s efforts to narrow the scope of the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said birthright citizenship remained a fundamental constitutional guarantee.
“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land’,” Roberts wrote.
“We keep that promise today.”
The Fourteenth Amendment provides that all persons “born or naturalised” in the United States are citizens of the country.
Trump, however, has repeatedly argued that the provision encourages “birth tourism,” with foreign nationals travelling to the US to give birth so their children automatically acquire American citizenship.
Hours after returning to office in January, Trump signed an executive order seeking to end the practice. The order was immediately challenged in court and blocked by lower court injunctions.
Despite the legal challenges, the administration continued to discourage birth tourism. In July, the US Embassy in Nigeria warned that visa applications could be denied if consular officers believed the primary purpose of travel was to secure US citizenship for a child through birth.
Tuesday’s ruling effectively nullifies Trump’s executive order, reaffirming that any attempt to alter birthright citizenship would require a constitutional amendment rather than executive action.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.