International
oi-Ashish Rana
The US Supreme Court has struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship, dealing a major blow to one of the defining immigration policies of his second term. The ruling preserves the long-standing constitutional principle that most children born on US soil automatically become American citizens, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
The US Supreme Court has invalidated President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to restrict birthright citizenship, reaffirming the 14th Amendment principle granting automatic citizenship to nearly all children born on US soil, irrespective of their parents’ immigration status.
The judgment is expected to bring relief to thousands of immigrant families, including Indians living in the United States on temporary work visas, student visas and other legal permits, who feared uncertainty over the citizenship status of their future children.
What Is Birthright Citizenship?
Birthright citizenship is the legal principle that grants automatic US citizenship to nearly every child born within the country’s borders. The right is protected by the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1868.
The amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The only recognised exceptions are children born to foreign diplomats or those born during a foreign military occupation of US territory.
For more than a century, courts have interpreted this provision to cover children born to immigrants, irrespective of whether their parents are US citizens.
Timeline: From Executive Order to Supreme Court Verdict
On his first day back in office in January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that children born in the United States to parents who were either in the country illegally or temporarily would not automatically receive US citizenship.
The move immediately triggered legal challenges across the country. Several federal courts blocked the order, ruling that it was unconstitutional or likely to violate the 14th Amendment.
Those courts relied heavily on the landmark 1898 Supreme Court decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which established that a child born in the US to Chinese immigrant parents was entitled to American citizenship.
In March 2026, the Trump administration defended its policy before the Supreme Court. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued that the Constitution had been wrongly interpreted for decades and urged the justices to correct what he called “long-enduring misconceptions about the Constitution’s meaning.”
However, both conservative and liberal justices questioned the administration’s interpretation during oral arguments. Chief Justice John Roberts remarked, “I’m not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and sort of idiosyncratic examples.”
The Supreme Court has now ruled that Trump’s executive order is unconstitutional, leaving birthright citizenship protections intact.
Why the Verdict Is a Major Blow to Trump
Immigration has been one of Donald Trump’s strongest political issues, and ending birthright citizenship was among his most ambitious promises. His administration argued that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” in the 14th Amendment should exclude children born to non-citizens.
The Supreme Court’s ruling effectively rejects that interpretation and reinforces more than a century of constitutional precedent.
The decision also limits the administration’s ability to reshape immigration policy through executive action when it conflicts with constitutional protections. Politically, it represents a significant setback for Trump’s broader immigration agenda, as one of its most controversial proposals has now been struck down by the nation’s highest court.
Why the Decision Brings Relief to Indian Immigrants
The judgment is particularly significant for Indian families living in the United States on temporary visas such as H-1B work visas, F-1 student visas and other employment-based categories.
Trump’s executive order was not limited to undocumented immigrants. It also sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born to people legally residing in the United States on temporary visas, including international students, skilled professionals and individuals waiting for permanent residency.
Indian nationals make up one of the largest groups of H-1B visa holders in the US and often face years-long green card backlogs. Under the proposed policy, many families feared that children born in America could lose their automatic citizenship despite being born on US soil.
With the Supreme Court striking down the order, those concerns have eased. The ruling ensures that children born in the United States to Indian parents on temporary legal visas will continue to receive US citizenship under the protections of the 14th Amendment, preserving a long-established constitutional right.
