US Supreme Court Upholds Birthright Citizenship

Washington DC. The US Supreme Court has ruled that children born in America have the constitutional right to citizenship. With this order from the court, President Donald Trump's attempt to end the 150-year-old policy on birthright citizenship has failed.

In this decision made by a 6-3 majority of the 9 judges of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts clarified that children born to parents who are illegally or temporarily in America are also 'natural-born citizens' under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. 

President Trump had sought to limit this right through an executive order. He had argued that children of undocumented immigrants and some temporary visitors are not within the full jurisdiction of America, and therefore, they are not eligible for birthright citizenship. This decision by the court is considered a major setback for Trump's immigration agenda, while civil rights organizations have welcomed it.

After the verdict was released, Trump reacted on the social media platform 'Truth Social', calling the court's decision 'very bad'. He pledged to continue his fight to end birthright citizenship through legislation. 

Trump said, 'There is no need for a long and cumbersome constitutional amendment for this, Congress should start the work of ending birthright citizenship, which has been costly and unjust to our country, from today itself.'

America has been granting citizenship to every person born in the country since 1868. This right is protected by the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, and various Supreme Court decisions have further strengthened it later. 

The 14th Amendment, passed after the American Civil War, was originally introduced for those who had recently been freed from slavery. It states, 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens of the United States.' 

Chief Justice Roberts, writing the majority opinion, said, 'Citizenship was and is a right that confers the right to participate freely in our political community. The framers of the Fourteenth Amendment made that promise to every free person born on this soil, and we fulfill that promise today.'

However, three judges out of the 9 judges of the court, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Samuel Alito, disagreed with this decision. In his dissent, Judge Thomas argued that the 14th Amendment is being 'misused for a political project'. He asserted that the freed slaves, for whom this amendment was originally intended, were 'Americans' with no allegiance to other countries. 

Another dissenting judge, Samuel Alito, called this decision a 'serious mistake'. He stated that this decision opens the door for anyone born in America to be granted citizenship, including those who come to America with the sole intention of giving birth and returning to their country.

This case was very important for President Donald Trump, for whom he himself appeared in court to hear the arguments last April. Stephen Miller, a staunch supporter of the Trump administration and White House Chief of Staff, wrote on the social media platform 'X' calling this one of the 'most destructive and disgraceful' decisions in the history of the Supreme Court. He said, 'American citizenship is not a birthright for the world, and no provision of the Constitution can be interpreted as a necessity for our national self-destruction.'

However, immigrant rights advocates and critics of the Trump administration have celebrated this decision. Hakeem Jeffries, leader of the Democrats in the US House of Representatives, said that by applying the law and adhering to the guidance of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has finally confirmed that all persons born in America are American citizens. He said, 'There is no doubt about this now, and there should not be.'

Similarly, Dariely Rodriguez, lead counsel for 'Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law', said that this decision has further strengthened what they have believed to be true for over a hundred years. She added, 'Anyone born on American soil, regardless of their parents' legal status, is born an American citizen. We faced a great test of our collective resolve as a nation, and ultimately, we prevailed.'