In a landmark decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump's executive order that sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.
The Court ruled that the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to nearly everyone born on American soil, with only very limited exceptions, such as children of foreign diplomats. The justices relied on long-standing constitutional interpretation and legal precedent dating back more than a century.
Trump's executive order had been blocked by multiple lower courts and never took effect. His administration argued that children of non-citizens are not fully subject to U.S. jurisdiction, but the Supreme Court rejected that argument.
Legal experts say the ruling preserves a fundamental constitutional principle and protects the citizenship status of hundreds of thousands of children born in the United States each year.
