← News articles · Abuse of Power hub
Supreme Court Rejects Trump Birthright Citizenship Order
Trump v. Barbara (June 30, 2026): executive order denying citizenship to children of undocumented or temporary parents struck down.
Sources: AP · CBS · SCOTUSblog · June 2026
What was Trump’s order?
On Jan. 20, 2025, Executive Order 14160 (“Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship”) declared that children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully present or temporarily in the country are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. and therefore not citizens under the 14th Amendment or the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Lower courts nationwide blocked the order. Parents sued on behalf of affected children; district courts certified nationwide classes and issued preliminary injunctions. The Supreme Court granted expedited review.
How did the Supreme Court rule?
By 6-3, the Court held the order unlawful. A five-justice majority (Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, Jackson) said the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause guarantees citizenship to children born in the U.S. who are subject to its jurisdiction, including those whose parents lack permanent status. Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in the judgment on statutory grounds, suggesting Congress could change law but has not.
Dissenters (Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch in part) would have upheld broader presidential discretion. Trump attended oral argument in person, a first for a sitting president; after the loss he urged Congress to act, though a constitutional amendment would likely be required to override the majority’s reading.
Why is this abuse-of-power relevant?
The order attempted to rewrite constitutional citizenship by executive fiat, bypassing Congress and 150 years of precedent. Courts treated it as a test of whether a president can nullify constitutional text through signing statements and agency directives. The rejection was a rare check on second-term expansionism, alongside other 2026 losses on emergency tariffs reported by the Christian Science Monitor.
Related: Voting & citizenship fights · Due process & detention · Courts tracker
TLDR
Trump’s Day One order to end birthright citizenship for large classes of U.S.-born children failed at the Supreme Court. The 14th Amendment still controls; executive orders cannot override it without congressional and likely constitutional change.