US Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Bid in Landmark End-of-Term Rulings

By Staff, Agencies

The US Supreme Court dealt President Donald Trump a significant setback on Tuesday by rejecting his attempt to limit birthright citizenship, one of the final major decisions of its nine-month term.

The ruling came alongside several other high-profile decisions on campaign finance, immigration, executive power, and gun rights.

The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority including three justices appointed by Trump, ruled 6-3 that his executive order restricting birthright citizenship violates the US Constitution’s 14^th Amendment.

Trump had signed the order on his first day back in office, directing federal agencies to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States if neither parent was a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. Legal experts estimated the policy could have affected the status of as many as 250,000 babies born annually.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said the 14^th Amendment, adopted in 1868 after the Civil War, guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born on US soil, with only limited exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats or enemy occupying forces.

“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community,” Roberts wrote. “We keep that promise today.”

The American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU], which represented those challenging the policy, welcomed the decision. National Legal Director Cecillia Wang said the ruling reaffirmed that birthright citizenship is a constitutional guarantee and cannot be altered through executive action.

Trump criticized the decision on his Truth Social platform, calling it “too bad for our Country” and urging Congress to pursue legislation aimed at ending birthright citizenship.

The Supreme Court also struck down federal limits on coordinated campaign spending between political parties and candidates, ruling 6-3 that the restrictions violated First Amendment free speech protections. The decision favored Republican challengers, including Vice President JD Vance, as political parties prepare for the November midterm elections.

Throughout its term, the court issued several major rulings affecting the Trump administration. In February, it rejected Trump’s broad global tariffs imposed under emergency powers. On Monday, it expanded presidential authority by allowing Trump to remove a Federal Trade Commission member while declining to immediately permit the dismissal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

Other notable decisions included narrowing parts of the Voting Rights Act, allowing the administration to revoke humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian immigrants, siding with the administration in an asylum case, expanding gun rights by striking down a Hawaii handgun restriction, and limiting enforcement of a federal law prohibiting firearm possession by certain drug users.

The court also announced it will hear several major cases during its next term, beginning in October, including challenges to state bans on assault-style rifles.