US supreme court upholds birthright citizenship in blow to Trump agenda

Protesters rally outside the US supreme court in Washington DC on 1 Apr 2026. Photograph: Jay Mallin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Protesters rally outside the US supreme court in Washington DC on 1 Apr 2026. Photograph: Jay Mallin/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock US supreme court upholds birthright citizenship in blow to Trump agenda Court rules against Trump administration on policy that people born in the United States are citizens Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox The US supreme court has upheld birthright citizenship, which provides nearly all people born in the country with citizenship, ruling against a central piece of Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda . The president had issued an executive order on the first day of his second term that sought to undo birthright citizenship. The order would override the US constitution, which it cannot do, though his administration has argued the order instead interprets the constitution correctly. Trump’s order immediately drew lawsuits, including from the Democratic state attorneys general and the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU argued in front of the US supreme court on the case during oral arguments in April for Trump v Barbara, a class action challenge to the order, brought by parents of children who would be affected by the change. Cecillia Wang, arguing before the court for the ACLU, told the justices that Americans’ understanding of the country’s citizenship rule is that everyone born here is a US citizen. “The 14th amendment’s fixed bright line rule has contributed to the growth and thriving of our nation,” Wang said. “It comes from text and history. It is workable and it prevents manipulation.” The supreme court’s Dred Scott decision in 1857 had ruled Black people were not US citizens, but “a separate class of persons”. But the 14th amendment which reversed the Dred Scott decision, was adopted in 1868 during the reconstruction era after the US civil war , to codify the rights of Black Americans – and confer citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof”. The Trump administration argued the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means babies born in the US to people who are not lawfully present in the country are not citizens. The executive order says this includes when neither of a person’s parents were US citizens or lawful permanent residents, or if a parent has legal, but temporary, status. It sought to apply this meaning starting on 19 February 2025, which would affect hundreds of thousands of babies annually. D John Sauer, the solicitor general who argued on behalf of the Trump administration , emphasized the concept of “domicile”, saying those who are here unlawfully or temporarily do not have “domicile” in the US or allegiance to the country, unlike the formerly enslaved people the 14th amendment’s citizenship clause applied to. “Unrestricted bi