Major loss for Trump: US Supreme Court reaffirms birthright citizenship

United States (US) Supreme Court, in its decision, reaffirmed birthright citizenship against the will of Donald Trump, the international media outlet reported on Tuesday. However, the Supreme Court allowed states to ban transgender athletes from playing on girls sports teams.  The ruling comes amid growing political and legal challenges to the rights of transgender Americans in conservative states.

What is Birthright citizenship?

Birthright citizenship, also known by the legal term “jus soli” or “right of the soil,” comes from the first sentence of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

The amendment states: “All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to its jurisdiction, are citizens of the United States and of the state where they live.“

The US added the 14th Amendment to the Constitution in 1868 after the American Civil War. Lawmakers introduced it to ensure that formerly enslaved people born in the United States were recognised as US citizens.

Soon after returning to the office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to limit birthright citizenship. Under the order, children born in the United States would not automatically receive citizenship if their parents were in the country illegally or were staying on temporary visas.

The order formed a key part of Trump’s immigration agenda, which also included stricter action against illegal border crossings and ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for many migrants. The US Supreme Court recently allowed the administration to revoke TPS for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its partners quickly filed a class-action lawsuit, Barbara v. Trump, arguing that the executive order violates the US Constitution.

The main legal dispute focuses on the meaning of the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the 14th Amendment and whether it applies to children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or on temporary visas.