US Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order

The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a significant setback to President Donald Trump's immigration agenda, ruling 6-3 that his executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship violates the US Constitution.

The decision upholds long-standing constitutional protections guaranteeing citizenship to nearly all children born on American soil, regardless of their parents immigration status and leaves in place lower court rulings that blocked the order from taking effect.

Trump signed the executive order on his first day back in office as part of a broader immigration crackdown. The directive sought to deny automatic US citizenship to children born in the United States if neither parent was an American citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said the administration's interpretation of the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause was inconsistent with more than a century of constitutional precedent.

Roberts relied heavily on the landmark 1898 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which established that children born in the United States are citizens at birth regardless of their parents nationality, except for a narrow range of constitutional exceptions.

"For the 128 years since, we have repeatedly understood the rule of Wong Kim Ark to guarantee citizenship to all children born in the United States and subject to its power," Roberts wrote.

He added that the court found "scant evidence" supporting the administration's interpretation of the Citizenship Clause.

The executive order had faced immediate legal challenges from immigrant families, civil rights organisations and advocacy groups, who argued that it violated both the Constitution and established Supreme Court precedent.

Federal courts had blocked the policy before it could take effect, prompting the administration's appeal to the nation's highest court.

Tuesday's ruling effectively preserves the long-established principle that birth on US soil confers citizenship in almost all circumstances.

The ruling marks another major judicial defeat for Trump's administration in 2026.

It follows the Supreme Court's earlier decision striking down the administration's sweeping global tariff policy, underscoring the court's willingness to reject key elements of the president's second-term agenda when found to conflict with constitutional or statutory limits.

The latest judgment is expected to have far-reaching implications for US immigration policy and settles, at least for now, one of the most contentious constitutional disputes surrounding Trump's renewed efforts to reshape America's immigration system.