Supreme Court to Review Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to take up the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship, which declares that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.
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.
The case will be argued in the spring, with a definitive ruling expected by early summer.
The birthright citizenship order, signed by Trump on the first day of his second term, is part of his administration’s immigration crackdown. Other actions include immigration enforcement surges in several cities and the first peacetime invocation of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act.
The administration is facing multiple court challenges, and the Supreme Court has issued mixed signals in emergency orders. The justices have stopped the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members without court hearings but allowed the resumption of sweeping immigration stops in the Los Angeles area.
The justices are also considering the administration’s emergency appeal to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area for immigration enforcement actions.
Birthright citizenship is the first Trump immigration-related policy to reach the court for a final ruling. The order would overturn more than 125 years of understanding that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment confers citizenship on everyone born on American soil.
Lower courts have consistently ruled the executive order as unconstitutional, even after a Supreme Court ruling in late June that limited judges’ use of nationwide injunctions.
Every lower court that has looked at the issue has concluded that Trump’s order violates the 14th Amendment, which was intended to ensure that Black people, including former slaves, had citizenship.
The case under review comes from New Hampshire, where a federal judge blocked the citizenship order in a class action lawsuit.
The administration argues that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore not entitled to citizenship.
Twenty-four Republican-led states and 27 Republican lawmakers are backing the administration in its defense of the birthright citizenship order.
