In the waning days of the Court’s session this year, several blockbuster decisions were issued. A long-awaited decision regarding birthright citizenship was issued, but did not address the merits of the case itself. In the case Trump v. Casa Inc., et al., the Supreme Court ruled to partially stay three universal district court injunctions barring the implementation of President Trump’s January 20th Executive Order (EO), resulting in the limitation of injunctions to apply only to individuals, organizations and U.S. states that are party to lawsuits while legal challenges to the constitutionality of the EO continues.
The EO, issued on January 20th, 2025 - the first day that President Trump assumed office -would deny U.S. citizenship to children born in the United States if they were not born to at least one biological parent who is a U.S. citizen or green card holder. The EO would also exclude from eligibility for U.S. citizenship those children born in the United States to parents in the U.S. on temporary work visas, including H1B, E1 and E2, L1, O1, R1, TN, P and F, J or M visa classification. Presumably, excluded as well would be the children of those with pending asylum applications, temporary protected status and other protected classes.
Additional Background on the Ruling
The Supreme Court specifically addressed the issue and ruled on whether nationwide, or “universal” injunctions were legal, and it concluded that they likely exceed the authority that Congress has granted the federal courts. The alternative route, class action lawsuits, would most likely be the path to pursue to obtain relief from government action.
Historically, the U.S. government and courts have interpreted Section 1 of the 14th Amendment (the “Citizenship Clause”) to state that any individual born in the United States is a U.S. citizen at birth, regardless of either parent’s immigration status. Exceptions to this rule would include children born with parents who might be diplomats or children born to alien enemies in the country. The Executive Order, if it becomes effective and issued by the President, would deny automatic U.S. citizenship to children born in the United States after February 19, 2025.
If no other judicial orders are forthcoming, the EO would be effective regarding non-parties in lawsuits as of 30 days from the date of the June 28, 2025 court order. To date, the states challenging the EO are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia and the city of San Francisco are also parties to the lawsuit.
Significantly, the Supreme court did not rule on whether the President’s Executive Order regarding birthright citizenship was legal or not or in conformance with historical precedent, which had seemed well-settled law. Expected legal actions going forward are announcements from the U.S. governmental agencies that issue citizenship documents, further litigation and many class action suits as individuals and states line up to sue for their rights in federal courts.
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