The United States supreme court has struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship.
In a 6-3 decision on Tuesday, the court held that children born to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily are “citizens at birth” under the constitution.
Perhaps President Donald Trump’s effort to end automatic birthright citizenship wasn’t as out of the mainstream as Supreme Court watchers had predicted.
Three members of the court’s conservative majority dissented from the decision, and one would have decided the case on much narrower grounds.
In the end, Chief Justice John Roberts managed to shut down the president’s first-day executive order with only one of the court’s conservatives — Justice Amy Coney Barrett — on board with his opinion. The court’s three liberal justices also joined that decision.
If Roberts’ mission was to present a unified front on a theory that was considered fringe just a decade ago, that effort was not successful.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh filed an opinion concurring in the outcome but disagreed that the Constitution barred Trump’s order.
Here's what the birthright citizenship ruling means for the undocumented population
With the Supreme Court upholding birthright citizenship, the undocumented population is expected to decrease over the next few decades.
If the Supreme Court had allowed President Donald Trump’s executive order to continue, those born to parents who are undocumented would also have been considered unlawful residents, subsequently increasing the undocumented population.
Birthright citizenship is a 160-year practice granting citizenship to anyone born on American soil, enshrined in the Constitution by the 14th Amendment.
‘A huge victory for common sense’: West Virginia Atty General reacts to Supreme Court ruling on transgender athletes
West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey hailed the Surpeme Court ruling allowing states to ban transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams as victory.
“So, this is really a huge victory for common sense. It’s a huge victory for female sports,” McCuskey said