Trump asks Supreme Court to review executive order on birthright citizenship

The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship, marking the second time this year the issue has reached the high court.

The administration challenged the century-long understanding that the 14th Amendment automatically grants citizenship to anyone born in the United States, calling it “mistaken” and claiming the widespread view has had “destructive consequences.”

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the administration’s top appellate lawyer, argued that lower court rulings “confer, without lawful justification, the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people” and undermine border security.

CNN obtained a copy of the appeal, which has not yet been docketed. While the Supreme Court issued a key ruling in June related to birthright citizenship, that case focused mainly on the procedural limits of lower courts blocking presidential policies. A 6-3 majority allowed some judicial review but did not fully address the constitutionality of the policy itself, leaving room for new lawsuits.

Since then, lower-court decisions have kept Trump’s order on hold. In July, a federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld a Seattle judge’s nationwide block of the policy in a case filed by Democratic-led states. Separately, a New Hampshire judge blocked the policy in a class-action lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The administration filed appeals in both cases on Friday.

“The government has a compelling interest in ensuring that American citizenship…is granted only to those who are lawfully entitled to it,” the administration wrote. The appeal from New Hampshire has also been sent to a Boston-based federal appeals court, which has yet to rule.

ACLU attorney Cody Wofsy called the order “illegal, full stop,” and vowed to continue fighting to protect the citizenship rights of affected children.

Trump signed the executive order on January 20 under the title “PROTECTING THE MEANING AND VALUE OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP,” stating that the federal government would not issue citizenship documents to children born in the U.S. to parents residing unlawfully or temporarily in the country.

The administration’s appeal cites US v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), which granted citizenship to children born in the U.S., but argues the precedent was misinterpreted and intended to apply only to those with “permanent domicile and residence.”

Lower courts, however, have rejected this interpretation. In July, the 9th Circuit ruled 2-1 that Trump’s order contradicts the Constitution, Wong Kim Ark, and decades of executive practice. Judge Ronald Gould, writing for the majority, said, “The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation…is unconstitutional. We fully agree.”

By Tamilla Hasanova