Supreme Court Set to Rule on Trump Order That Seeks to End Birthright Citizenship

Overview

• The executive order, issued on Jan. 20, 2025, would limit automatic citizenship to children whose parents are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and has been legally paused by lower courts.
• The case reached the Supreme Court and the justices are expected to issue one or more opinions before the Court’s summer recess in early July 2026.
• The Trump administration tells agencies the order would apply only to babies born after it takes effect and says federal guidance is ready to make parental status the basis for citizenship decisions.
• Legal scholars warn that if the Court accepts the administration’s reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment it could have retroactive reach in practice, decouple U.S. birth certificates from proof of citizenship, and strain checks on executive power.
• Advocates and analysts say about 255,000 children born each year to noncitizen parents could lose automatic citizenship under the administration’s approach, raising risks of statelessness and heavy new paperwork for families and agencies.