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The Supreme Court today struck down President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship. The vote was 6 to 3. The Court struck down the executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship in a divided decision in Trump v. Barbara, decided June 30, 2026 — CBS News
Chief Justice Roberts wrote the opinion, joined by Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, and Jackson. Roberts, C.J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, and Jackson, JJ., joined — Trump v. Barbara, No. 25-365, slip op. (U.S. June 30, 2026)
Executive Order 14160, signed on Trump’s first day back in office, declared that children born here to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, and so not citizens. On January 20, 2025, Trump issued Executive Order 14160, which provides that children born of persons unlawfully or temporarily present are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and do not qualify for citizenship; 90 Fed. Reg. 8449 — Trump v. Barbara, No. 25-365, slip op. (U.S. June 30, 2026)
Roberts walked through English common law, the rejection of Dred Scott, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the 1898 Wong Kim Ark decision. The opinion grounds its holding in the English common law of jus soli, the widespread condemnation of Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898) — Trump v. Barbara, No. 25-365, slip op. (U.S. June 30, 2026)
The conclusion — a child born on American soil and subject to American law is an American citizen. Held: children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause — Trump v. Barbara, No. 25-365, slip op. (U.S. June 30, 2026)
The words the order relied on — “lawful,” “temporary,” “domicile” — appear nowhere in the Citizenship Clause. The opinion notes that words appearing frequently in the Executive Order — “mother,” “father,” “lawful,” “temporary” — are absent from the Clause, and that the word “domicile” does not appear in the constitutional text — Trump v. Barbara, No. 25-365, slip op. (U.S. June 30, 2026)
Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch dissented. Thomas, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Gorsuch, J., joined; Alito, J., and Gorsuch, J., filed dissenting opinions — Trump v. Barbara, No. 25-365, slip op. (U.S. June 30, 2026)