President Donald Trump’s challenge to birthright citizenship landed in the US Supreme Court on Thursday, as justices weighed whether lower courts can block presidential orders nationwide. The ruling could redefine presidential power and immigration law.
The Trump administration argues that the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship does not apply to children of undocumented immigrants. Trump’s executive order, now blocked by federal courts in three states, seeks to end this long-standing constitutional right.
At the heart of the Supreme Court case is whether nationwide injunctions — which currently halt the president’s orders across all states — are legally valid. US Solicitor General D. John Sauer called them “epidemic,” claiming they disrupt the executive branch’s authority. But liberal Justice Elena Kagan challenged the case’s merit, noting that Trump’s argument has lost at every judicial level.
New Jersey’s solicitor general, Jeremy Feigenbaum, warned that limiting court injunctions could lead to “chaos,” with children recognized as citizens in one state but not in another. He argued this would disrupt access to government services and violate constitutional norms.
Outside the court, protesters rallied as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi read aloud from the Constitution, defending the principle of equal citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
While no ruling date was announced, legal experts suggest a decision favoring Trump could reshape both the reach of executive orders and the future of birthright citizenship — with potentially life-altering consequences for thousands of US-born children.
