Today, in a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump's January 20, 2025 executive order ending birthright citizenship.
Conservative Justices John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett sided with liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in in the ruling. Conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented. Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh disagreed with the majority decision but voted to block Trump's order under federal law.
Read the full 194-page Court ruling here.
Citing Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet "Common Sense," Justice Roberts, who wrote the opinion for the Court, said:
In a Nation of immigrants—an 'asylum for mankind,' in Thomas Paine's words—jus soli's [right of the soil] broad scope took on particular importance.
Roberts also said:
The young Republic attracted tens of thousands of émigrés from the Old World—Scotch-Irish, French, German, Welsh, and many more, some of whom hoped to stay only a short time, others of whom hoped never to leave. No matter their intentions, however, they could be assured that their children would be American citizens by birth alone.
In his 91-page dissent, Justice Thomas said that the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment "added greatly to the dignity and glory of American citizenship" and that "Today's opinion devalues that citizenship." Thomas also said:
I am not sure that today's opinion will stand the test of time.
The Citizenship Clause was consistently interpreted not to apply to the children of foreign temporary visitors, who were by definition not domiciled in the United States. Regardless of administration or party, the Federal Government for decades after ratification regularly denied claims to citizenship by children who were born in the United States but not domiciled here.
The Court today takes the extraordinary step of holding facially unconstitutional the President's Order excluding from citizenship the children of foreign temporary visitors and illegal aliens. In doing so, the Court adds to the sad history of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was designed and understood to secure equal rights for the freed blacks but has instead been repurposed for political projects that the Reconstruction Congress did not support.
In his dissent, Justice Alito said the majority made a "serious mistake" in "one of the most important decisions in the history" of the Supreme Court. Alito also said:
After the war, Congress finally adopted a constitutional provision, of the Fourteenth Amendment, making certain persons citizens at birth, but that provision differed substantially from the British rule. It specified that a person born here is not a citizen unless his allegiance to the United States is unimpaired by any obligations to a foreign power.
Alito said the ruling might encourage "birth tourism." Read more about what Alito said in an article on The Hill entitled "Alito slams birthright decision as 'serious mistake'".
Source:
Howe, Amy. (June 30, 2026). "Supreme Court strikes down Trump's order ending birthright citizenship". SCOTUS Blog. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
Fields, Ashleigh. (June 30, 2026). "How the Supreme Court justices ruled on birthright citizenship". The Hill. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
Brams, Sophie. (June 30, 2026). "Thomas: Birthright decision 'devalues' American citizenship". The Hill. Retrieved 2026-06-30.
Donald Trump responded on Truth Social:
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. No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my Complete and Total Support! President DONALD J. TRUMP
Kevin Roberts, president of The Heritage Foundation responded on X:
The Supreme Court's ruling on birthright citizenship is a tremendous betrayal of the republic. The Justices in the majority have inflamed the all-out assault on our sovereignty and cheapened the sacred value of American citizenship. Universal birthright citizenship erases any uniquely American birthright—a distortion that was never the meaning or intention of the 14th Amendment. It is time for a constitutional amendment to correct this gross injustice.
Watch and listen to Marc Elias' response to the ruling here.
Commentary:
What a stark difference of opinions.
Overall, I think this ruling shows us how so many conservatives have this desire for greater isolation from, and less invasion from the rest of the world. It shows they have a desire to live in their own little conservative bubble of reality, whereas liberals, in general, have a much more "open arms" and welcoming posture.
Kevin Robert's post shows us just how far right The Heritage Foundation is.
How does Roberts know what the real meaning and intent of the 14th Amendment really is? The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868. That was a really long time ago.
Regardless of how you slice it, the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment 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.
Roberts refers to the ruling as a "gross injustice." Wow, talk about radical!
Frankly, I think that Christian values, in general, tend to be self-serving and non-inclusive. Those values doesn't accept the reality that America is, and always has been a true melting pot, consisting of all races and ethnicities, and that America is slowly becoming less White.
Christians are scared, to death, about what they see as the slow erosion of their reality bubble.
In my opinion, this fear is the underlying, driving force behind everything conservatives stand for.