The Trump administration is determined to continue its legal battle over birthright citizenship, following a recent setback in the courts. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has confirmed plans to take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) after a federal judge blocked President Trump’s executive order revoking it.
President Trump signed the executive order on his first day in office, challenging the long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause.
U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, ruled to block the executive order, stating that he had “difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order.” This ruling came after a hearing on Thursday.
Despite the setback, the Trump administration’s legal team, backed by the DOJ, remains resolute in its commitment to pursue the matter further. According to a spokesperson from the DOJ, the department plans to continue defending President Trump’s executive order and is optimistic about presenting a strong argument before the highest court in the land.
“We think we have very good arguments that correctly interpret the 14th Amendment of the Constitution,” a senior DOJ official told Breitbart News. “We will vigorously defend this executive order, which we believe reflects the original intent of the 14th Amendment.”
At the heart of the controversy is the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The interpretation of the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” has been a point of legal debate for years. The Supreme Court’s 1898 ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark concluded that children born to legal, permanent residents in the U.S. were entitled to citizenship, even if their parents were not U.S. citizens.
However, Trump administration officials, along with many other constitutional and legal experts, argue that the original intent of the 14th Amendment was to grant citizenship to the descendants of freed slaves, not to children born to temporary residents or illegal aliens.
The executive order stipulates that only children born to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents would be granted automatic citizenship, thereby restricting birthright citizenship for children born to those without full legal status in the country.
The Trump administration’s legal team asserts that the correct interpretation of the 14th Amendment aligns with the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which declared that “all persons born in the United States, and not subject to any foreign power, excluding Indians not taxed, are hereby declared to be citizens of the United States.” Supporters of the executive order contend that this historical context supports limiting citizenship to those born in the U.S. to parents who are legally subject to U.S. jurisdiction, effectively excluding the children of illegal immigrants or those on temporary visas from birthright citizenship.
The move comes at a time when birth tourism—where foreign nationals travel to the U.S. to give birth in order to secure U.S. citizenship for their child—has become a significant issue. According to estimates from the Center for Immigration Studies, around 72,000 children are born annually in the U.S. to foreign nationals who are in the country on tourist visas, guest worker permits, or student visas. Additionally, about 250,000 children were born to illegal immigrants in 2016, as reported by Pew Research.
The term “anchor baby” has become synonymous with the debate over birthright citizenship. It refers to children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants who are then used as a means to secure legal status for their parents and extended family through family reunification programs. According to Pew Research, approximately 4.4 million children of illegal immigrants were living in U.S. households in 2022, many of whom were U.S. citizens by birthright.
Immigration restrictionists have long expressed concern that birthright citizenship has been exploited by immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally, often timing their pregnancies to give birth on U.S. soil, thus securing citizenship for their children. The White House argues that the practice incentivizes illegal immigration and places additional strain on the U.S. immigration system and public resources.
A ruling by the conservative-majority SCOTUS could set a precedent that reshapes the interpretation of the 14th Amendment for generations to come.
A number of Supreme Court justices, including Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, and Chief Justice John Roberts, have yet to weigh in publicly on the jurisdiction question concerning birthright citizenship. Given the highly polarized nature of the issue, it is likely that a SCOTUS ruling on the matter would be met with intense political debate, with far-reaching implications for U.S. immigration policy.
While the case continues to unfold in the courts, the Trump administration remains steadfast in its position. “The American people are desperate to see our nation’s laws enforced,” a DOJ spokesperson stated, reaffirming the administration’s commitment to pushing the case forward, confident in their legal interpretation of the Constitution.
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For decades Communist China has flights every day that fly from China to Californis with pregnant women on board ready to deliver. They stay in California until they give birth. The baby has US and Chinese Citizenship (dual). After they give birth and get baby citizenship they return to China on the same type baby equipped aircraft. Ask yourself why they do this, is it to get citizenship for going to College, for easy entry to the USA, to allow a Legal entry to the USA by military aged Chinese Military in the future. That is how they plan, in the future. For what reason does China have specially equipped aircraft to handle these flights, home where the wearhouse the expecting mothers, and documentation for US passports all lined up for the last 20+ years? Why do they do this unless its for some clandistine reason?
The 14th Amendment was written at a time very much unlike this. We have been invaded by 14 million illegals who are DEMANDING citizenship, money, medical care, a place to live, etc. This is a really great burden on the taxpayers who have had no say at all. The illegals are destroying our country and committing fatal crimes against our citizens. The 14th Amendment is not valid now and desperately needs to be changed to put America first. Feeding and housing this many unexpected people is crazy. Biden, Harris and Obama intended to destroy our America and the Democrat/Socialist party needs to be abolished.
SCOTUS needs to clarify this.