Supreme Court rejects Trump's attempt to limit birthright citizenship

The Supreme Court has struck down President Trump's executive order ending automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents here illegally or on temporary visas. In Trump v. Barbara, decided June 30, 2026, the Court ruled 6–3 that such children are "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment. Executive Order 14160 is now void.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, and Jackson. Because the decision rests on the Constitution itself, it cannot be reversed by statute or executive order, only by a constitutional amendment or a future Court overruling the case.

Three justices dissented. Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Gorsuch, argued the Fourteenth Amendment requires both birth and domicile, and that children of temporary visitors owe allegiance to a foreign power. Justice Alito warned the ruling extends citizenship to the children of "birth tourists," women who enter solely to give birth and then leave. Justice Gorsuch separately faulted the nationwide injunction.

Justice Kavanaugh agreed the order was unlawful but only on statutory grounds, and said Congress could legislate exceptions, a view the five-justice majority rejected.

The decision affirms a nationwide class injunction blocking the order's enforcement. Federal agencies must continue issuing citizenship documents and passports as before. The administration's central immigration initiative of the term is defeated, and the constitutional question the order sought to reopen is now settled against it.