Overview
- The justices will take up Trump v. Barbara in oral arguments Wednesday, with lower courts having blocked the order since 2025 and a ruling expected by late June or early July.
- The order would deny automatic citizenship to babies born in the U.S. after February 19, 2025 if a parent is undocumented or only has temporary status, challenging more than a century of precedent set by the 1898 Wong Kim Ark decision.
- Questions from Justice Brett Kavanaugh homed in on logistics, including whether hospitals, states, the Social Security Administration and the passport office would have to verify parents’ status instead of relying on a birth certificate; Solicitor General D. John Sauer said agencies would have to work out the process.
- Civil-rights groups and policy analysts warn the change could touch millions, with CNN reporting estimates that up to about 6.5 million people with nonpermanent status could have children denied citizenship and some families risk confusion or even statelessness.
- In a separate shift, DHS told CBS News that USCIS has resumed deciding many asylum cases for applicants from countries not on its 39-nation “high risk” list, while keeping limits in place for those from listed countries including Cuba and Venezuela.