US-born Babies Have Right To Citizenship, Supreme Court Rules

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that all persons born in the United States have the right to American citizenship.By a 6-3 majority decision, authored by him, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled that children born 'to parents unlawfully or temporarily present' in the country…

WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that all persons born in the United States have the right to American citizenship.

By a 6-3 majority decision, authored by him, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled that children born 'to parents unlawfully or temporarily present' in the country are 'citizens at birth' under the 14th amendment.

The 14th Amendment was enshrined in the U.S. Constitution in 1868 to ensure that formerly enslaved Black people would not have their citizenship questioned on the basis of their race. For more than 150 years U.S. citizenship had been granted to every child born in the country.

The 14th Amendment says, 'All persons born or naturalized, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.'

Shortly after taking office for his second term, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order to prevent children born in the U.S. from becoming automatic citizens if neither parent was a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.

The Trump administration argued that the phrase 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' in the 14th Amendment required parents to owe political allegiance to the United States, thereby excluding the children of undocumented immigrants.

Five of the nine-member judges panel, including Chief Justice Roberts, were of the opinion that the executive order is unconstitutional. The court's decision in the landmark case cemented that birthright citizenship is fully protected by the 14th Amendment.

'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'. We keep that promise today,' Justice Roberts wrote.

Trump termed the court's ruling as 'too bad' and vowed to continue to fight to end birthright citizenship by enacting a law.

'No long and unwieldy constitutional amendment is necessary,' he wrote on Truth Social. 'Congress should today start work on ending expensive, and unfair to our country, birthright citizenship.'

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, 'Donald Trump's disgraceful actions as it relates to the Birthright Citizenship Clause are clearly unlawful and an assault on our way of life.

'On the eve of America's 250th birthday, the far-right MAGA conservatives have failed in their quest to remake the United States, and American values have prevailed.'

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which filed an amicus brief in Trump v Barbara, welcomed the ruling.