President Donald Trump has taken his battle to end birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court, challenging lower court rulings that blocked his executive order.
Signed on his first day in office, Trump’s order aimed to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented parents. However, federal courts in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington state ruled against it, citing the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil.
In an emergency request, the Justice Department urged the Supreme Court to limit the scope of the lower court injunctions to only the plaintiffs involved. Acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris described the move as a “modest” request, clarifying that they were not yet seeking a ruling on the constitutionality of ending birthright citizenship.
“Those universal injunctions prohibit a Day 1 Executive Order from being enforced anywhere in the country,” Harris wrote. “While the parties litigate weighty merits questions, the Court should ‘restrict the scope’ of multiple preliminary injunctions that ‘purport to cover every person in the country,’ limiting those injunctions to parties actually within the courts’ power.”
Trump has encountered legal resistance across multiple fronts, particularly in his efforts to curb illegal immigration, cut government spending, and shrink the federal workforce. In a recent setback, a California judge ordered six federal agencies to reinstate thousands of probationary employees who had been dismissed.
Harris also voiced frustration over the rising number of nationwide injunctions blocking Trump’s policies, calling them “epidemic” and claiming they obstruct the executive branch’s constitutional duties.
Trump’s order, originally set to take effect on February 19, was based on the argument that undocumented immigrants and visa holders are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. and, therefore, their children should not automatically receive citizenship.
Judge John Coughenour of Washington state, a Reagan appointee, struck down the order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is,” Coughenour stated.
With the Supreme Court’s conservative majority—including three justices appointed by Trump—the case will be a major test of presidential power and the legal boundaries of executive authority.
