The United States Supreme Court has ruled that President Donald Trump cannot enforce his executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship, reaffirming that children born on American soil remain entitled to US citizenship under the Constitution regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
In a 6-3 decision delivered on Tuesday, the country’s highest court held that the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment continues to guarantee citizenship to individuals born in the United States, including children of undocumented migrants and those whose parents are in the country temporarily. The judgment represents a major legal defeat for the Trump administration’s efforts to narrow long-standing constitutional protections.
The ruling reinforces decades of constitutional interpretation and effectively invalidates the executive order signed by Trump shortly after returning to office in January 2026. Brandspur Politics reports that the decision leaves the administration with no immediate legal pathway to implement the policy unless the Constitution itself is amended through the prescribed constitutional process.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, stated that citizenship by birth remains a fundamental constitutional guarantee and an essential element of participation in American democracy. The court concluded that the Fourteenth Amendment continues to protect everyone born within the United States, consistent with its historical interpretation.
Trump has repeatedly argued that birthright citizenship encourages so-called “birth tourism” and contributes to illegal immigration by allowing foreign nationals to secure American citizenship for their children through childbirth in the US. Acting on that position, he signed an executive order shortly after taking office directing federal agencies to deny automatic citizenship in certain circumstances.
Although several lower courts had previously halted implementation of the order through injunctions, the administration maintained strict scrutiny of visa applicants suspected of travelling primarily to give birth in the United States. In July 2025, the US Embassy in Nigeria also warned that visa applications could be refused if consular officers believed obtaining citizenship for an unborn child was the applicant’s primary purpose of travel.
With Tuesday’s judgment, the Supreme Court has firmly reaffirmed the constitutional protection of birthright citizenship, delivering one of the most significant immigration rulings of Trump’s current term. As of the time of reporting, the US president had not publicly responded to the decision, although he had previously criticised judges who ruled against his administration on key policy matters.
