The Birthright Citizenship Decision
How the Majority Rewrote the Fourteenth Amendment—and Why Congress Must Now Act The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. Barbara ranks among the most consequential rulings of the Term. In a 6-3 opinion by Chief Justice Roberts, the Court struck down President Trump’s Executive Order limiting birthright citizenship for children of parents who are unlawfully present or only temporarily in the United States. The majority held that the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause demands automatic citizenship for virtually every child born on American soil, no matter their parents’ status. On the surface, the opinion gleams with scholarly polish—historical citations to Blackstone and…