President Donald Trump announced a new strategy to pursue restrictions on birthright citizenship after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down his executive order on the issue, signaling that he will instead work with Congress to pass legislation implementing similar policies.
The new approach follows the Supreme Court’s June 30 decision in Trump v. Barbara, which invalidated Executive Order 14160, signed by Trump on Jan. 20, 2025.
The order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” directed federal agencies to deny automatic U.S. citizenship at birth to certain children born in the U.S. whose parents were either unlawfully present in the country or were in the U.S. temporarily on visas.
Specifically, the order applied to children born to mothers who were in the U.S. illegally when the father was neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident. It also applied to children whose mothers were lawfully present on temporary visas if the father likewise lacked U.S. citizenship or permanent legal status.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the executive order could not stand.
Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The court concluded by a 5-4 constitutional majority that the executive order violated the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The opinion reaffirmed longstanding precedent established by United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), holding that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are generally “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are therefore citizens at birth.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed that the executive order should be struck down but issued a separate opinion disagreeing with the majority’s constitutional reasoning.
Instead, Kavanaugh concluded the order conflicted with existing federal law—specifically 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a), which governs birthright citizenship—but argued Congress could amend that statute without necessarily violating the Constitution.
“Congress could—consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment—amend §1401(a) or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country. But Congress has not yet done so,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Following the ruling, Trump seized on Kavanaugh’s opinion as a potential roadmap for future action.
In a Truth Social post, the president said the Supreme Court had upheld birthright citizenship under existing law but argued Congress could change the statute, per Trending Politics.
“We can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation,” Trump wrote, adding that lawmakers should begin work immediately on legislation ending what he described as “expensive and unfair” birthright citizenship.
Speaking at a rally in Medora, North Dakota, Trump argued that birthright citizenship was never intended to apply to birth tourism or to children of individuals who entered the country illegally or temporarily.
Under the legislative approach outlined by Kavanaugh, Congress could amend the existing statute governing citizenship or enact new legislation creating exceptions similar to those contained in Trump’s executive order. Federal agencies would then update regulations governing passports, Social Security numbers and other citizenship documents to reflect the revised law.
