The US Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a procedural victory on Friday but stopped short of ruling on the constitutionality of the president’s efforts to end birthright citizenship. So, what exactly does this mean? Here’s a breakdown of what has happened, its ramifications and what can be expected, according to the inputs from a report published by The Associated Press on Saturday.
- Legal battles will now likely ensue in the lower courts, where judges will be required to reconsider their decisions under new limits on nationwide injunctions.
- Meanwhile, immigrant rights activists across the US are reportedly bracing for another trip to court, seeking to uphold what they see as a constitutional right.
What Is Birthright Citizenship?
Birthright citizenship provides US citizenship to any child born on American soil, regardless of the immigration status of their parents. The privilege dates back to the 14th Amendment, which was passed after the Civil War to give full citizenship to formerly enslaved Black Americans, according to the AP report.
“All persons born or naturalised within the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,” the amendment reads, reports the US-based news service.
The rule, the report stated, was reaffirmed in 1898, when the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that immigrant children — regardless of their status — are American citizens if they are born in the United States. Exceptions included children of diplomats or enemy occupiers.
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What Is Trump’s Stance on Birthright Citizenship?
Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked birthright citizenship as a “magnet for illegal immigration,” as reported by the AP. In January, he signed an executive order to block automatic citizenship for children born in the US to temporary or undocumented immigrants.
According to the report, the order relied heavily on a strict interpretation of the words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” Federal courts, however, weren’t swayed.
“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” US District Judge John Coughenour said during a hearing in Seattle, per the AP.
In Maryland, US District Judge Deborah Boardman observed that “the Supreme Court has soundly rejected and no court in the nation has ever supported” Trump’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment.
Birthright Citizenship: What Did the SCOTUS Say?
The Supreme Court limited the ability of lower court judges to issue nationwide injunctions, although it did not immediately address the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order.
While that procedural win may benefit the Trump administration by restricting how judges can temporarily halt policies, the birthright citizenship order is blocked for at least 30 days as lower courts re-examine it, as reported by The Associated Press.
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, meanwhile, has hinted that the administration is “very confident” that ultimately the courts will decide in Trump’s favour.
What Comes Next?
The lower courts must now reword their decisions to conform to the Supreme Court’s ruling on injunctions. But the legality of the policy continues to be in doubt, with reports suggesting that opponents are working on new legal strategies.
Within a matter of hours of the Supreme Court decision, two class-action suits had been brought in Maryland and New Hampshire, seeking to enjoin the executive order through another path of the law, the report said.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, called on the lower courts to “act quickly on such requests for relief and to dispose of the cases as expeditiously as they can.”
At least for the time being, the legal landscape remains uncertain. Opponents have warned that, with a lack of uniform rulings, America may have a patchwork of policies with a child’s right to citizenship depending on which state they are born in.
