Overview
- The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 on June 30, 2026, in Trump v. Barbara that President Trump’s January 2025 executive order trying to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional.
- Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion that relied on the 14th Amendment and long‑standing precedent including United States v. Wong Kim Ark to hold that children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are citizens at birth.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the outcome on narrower legal grounds while Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissented, arguing the text and history do not support automatic citizenship for the children of noncitizen visitors.
- Lower federal courts had already blocked the order so it never took effect, and the ruling affirms that a president cannot change constitutional citizenship rules by executive fiat.
- The decision preserves legal status and protections for hundreds of thousands of U.S.‑born children each year, shifts any effort to curb birthright citizenship to Congress or the arduous constitutional amendment process, and is likely to deepen political debate over immigration policy.