Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett voted with the three liberal Justices in a 6-3 decision to strike down President Donald Trump's executive order declaring that children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the majority, citing a 1940s federal law he said broadly conveys birthright citizenship.
So, with the exception of the children of diplomats, and several other special cases, anyone born within the borders of the United States continues to be, as a matter of law, considered a citizen.
Trump downplayed the ruling’s impact.
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” he wrote on Truth Social.
He encouraged Congress to start “TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship.”
Ira Mehlman is media director for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
He says the court got it wrong.
"The Supreme Court has degraded the meaning of citizenship here in the United States. It clearly ignored precisely what the framers of the Constitution were saying back in the 1860s when they wrote the amendment. It was clear that they intended this for specific purposes and the subject to the jurisdiction thereof was included for a reason and the court seemed to completely overlook that. "
Mehlman says steps must now be taken to mitigate the damage.
"In terms of illegal immigration, what we have to do is a better job of preventing people from coming in here illegally in the first place. In terms of birth tourism, we need to have consular officers make sure that when they issue a visa, they're not issuing it to someone who is in the late stages of pregnancy.”
The government needs to watch more than immigrant birth mothers.
Organized networks facilitate birth tourism by selling comprehensive packages — often costing up to $100,000 — that coordinate travel, housing, and medical care for pregnant foreign nationals seeking U.S. citizenship for their children.
These groups, including specialized consultancy firms and "maternity hotels," systematically coach applicants to conceal pregnancies and submit fraudulent documents during visa interviews to bypass immigration scrutiny.
Mehlman says this ruling is going to encourage more people overseas to come to the U.S. and have a child.
“We need to hold accountable the partners that they work with here in the United States. We can hold them accountable criminally, civilly, and discourage this sort of business. So, there are things that we can do to mitigate this."
