ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, reaffirming that children born in the United States are citizens under the 14th Amendment.
In Trump v. Barbara, the Court held that the executive order could not be reconciled with the Citizenship Clause, which grants citizenship to people “born … in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said children born to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present in the United States “satisfy both elements of the Citizenship Clause.”
“Under the Constitution,” Roberts wrote, “they are citizens at birth.”
Trump issued the executive order Jan. 20, 2025, shortly after taking office for a second term. The order sought to deny automatic citizenship to babies born in the United States if their parents were in the country illegally or temporarily. The order never took effect after federal judges blocked its enforcement while legal challenges moved forward.
The case followed an earlier Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. CASA, where the Court limited the ability of lower courts to issue nationwide injunctions. After that decision, challenges to the birthright citizenship order continued in lower courts, including a case involving a class of children who would have been affected by the order.
Roberts traced the principle of birthright citizenship through English common law, the adoption of the 14th Amendment after the Civil War and the Supreme Court’s 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark. That case recognized the citizenship of a man born in San Francisco to parents of Chinese descent.
“Citizenship, then and now,” Roberts wrote, “was the right to have rights.”
The decision drew strong dissents from conservative justices. Justice Samuel Alito called the ruling “one of the most important decisions in the history of the Court” and “a serious mistake.” Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, also dissented.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez praised the decision Tuesday, saying it reaffirmed “one of the clearest promises in the United States Constitution.”
“The Citizenship Clause is not subject to political whims or presidential decree,” Torrez said. “The rule of law prevailed today.”
Torrez joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general and the City and County of San Francisco in filing an amicus brief opposing the executive order.
New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez also welcomed the ruling, calling it “a critical victory – not just for our immigrant communities, but for all Americans.”
U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, who represents New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, which Cibola County is the northernmost portion of, said the ruling protected a principle that has stood for nearly 160 years.
As of press time, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham had not issued a statement on the ruling.