The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule within days on Trump v. Barbara, a case challenging President Trump’s executive order to restrict birthright citizenship. According to Newsweek, the court is scheduled to issue opinions Thursday morning, though it is not known whether the birthright case will be among them; a decision is expected by early July at the latest.
Trump signed the executive order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” shortly after taking office for his second term. It seeks to prevent children born on U.S. soil from automatically receiving citizenship if neither parent was an American citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of birth. The order has been blocked by multiple federal courts and has not taken effect.
At issue is the 14th Amendment, which states that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens. The administration argues the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” excludes the children of undocumented immigrants and some temporary visa holders. During April oral arguments, both conservative and liberal justices questioned the administration’s legal reasoning, with Chief Justice John Roberts challenging its attempt to expand narrow historical exceptions into a broad rule and Justice Neil Gorsuch scrutinizing its historical basis. Trump has predicted on social media that the justices will rule against him.
If implemented, the order would deny automatic birthright citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of children born annually on U.S. soil. The case carries weight for Indigenous communities as well; the question of whether tribal members were birthright citizens dates to the clause’s codification and was addressed in the 1884 case Elk v. Wilkins.
