 "Birthright citizenship guarantees that anyone born in the United States automatically acquires American citizenship. Reuters/File Photo/Representational Image")
The Trump administration is urging the US Supreme Court to permit restrictions on birthright citizenship, even as legal challenges continue against President Donald Trump’s efforts to curtail what has long been considered a constitutional guarantee.
In an emergency application filed on Thursday (March 13), the administration asked the court to allow officials to deny citizenship to children born in the US after 19 February if their parents are in the country illegally.
The order , which Trump signed shortly after taking office in January, has been blocked by district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington. It is currently suspended nationwide.
Birthright citizenship grants automatic US nationality to anyone born in the country, including children of undocumented immigrants. The principle was enshrined in the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, ratified after the Civil War.
Trump and his supporters have long argued that citizenship should be harder to obtain, with the president calling it “a priceless and profound gift” in his executive order. Legal experts, however, say the 14th Amendment makes it exceedingly difficult to overturn.
A long-standing target for Trump
Trump has repeatedly pledged to end birthright citizenship , calling it “ridiculous” and falsely claiming that the US is the only country in the world to offer it. In reality, dozens of nations—mostly in the Americas—recognise the right.
Opponents argue that ending birthright citizenship would have far-reaching consequences, forcing millions to prove their nationality and undermining America’s identity as a nation of immigrants.
“Eliminating birthright citizenship could eventually place every single person in America in the precarious position of having to prove American citizenship,” Alex Nowrasteh, vice president for economic and social policy studies at the pro-immigration Cato Institute, warned after Trump’s order.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe Migration Policy Institute estimated in 2019 that 5.5 million children under 18 lived with at least one undocumented parent—accounting for 7% of all children in the US. The vast majority of them are US citizens.
The 14th Amendment and its limitations
Ratified in 1868, the 14th Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
Yet throughout history, its protections have not always been universal. Native Americans, for example, were only granted birthright citizenship in 1924.
Trump and other immigration hardliners argue that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” allows the government to deny citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants. Legal scholars have overwhelmingly rejected that interpretation, pointing to Supreme Court rulings affirming birthright citizenship.
A battle over executive power
The Trump administration’s appeal does not directly challenge the constitutional basis of birthright citizenship. Instead, it seeks to limit the power of individual federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions, a legal tool frequently used to block presidential orders.
The Justice Department argues that district courts should not have the authority to suspend policies on a national scale. Five conservative justices on the Supreme Court have previously expressed concerns about the widespread use of such injunctions, but the court has never issued a definitive ruling on the matter.
If the Supreme Court sides with the Trump administration, it could mark a major shift in how legal challenges against executive orders play out—potentially making it harder for courts to block controversial policies in the future.
With inputs from AP