A federal appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, upholding a lower-court decision that blocked the policy from taking effect across the United States.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that Trump’s executive order—aimed at ending automatic citizenship for children born on US soil to noncitizen parents—violated the Constitution.
The decision aligns with a previous ruling by a federal judge in New Hampshire, who also found the order unlawful and issued a nationwide injunction.
The case could now be headed to the Supreme Court, which has not weighed in directly on the issue in decades.
Birthright citizenship is guaranteed under the 14th Amendment, which states that "all persons born or naturalised in the United States…are citizens of the United States."
Trump had argued that the provision was being misinterpreted, and sought to end automatic citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants through executive action.
Legal scholars and civil rights advocates widely condemned the order as unconstitutional from the outset, warning it would face serious legal hurdles.
The appeals court ruling adds to a growing list of judicial setbacks for Trump’s immigration agenda.
What does birthright citizenship mean?
Birthright citizenship makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally.
The practice goes back to soon after the Civil War, when Congress ratified the Constitution's 14th Amendment.
"All persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States," the amendment states.
Trump's executive order, signed in January seeks to deny citizenship to children who are born to people who are living in the US illegally or temporarily.
It's part of the hardline immigration agenda of the president, who has called birthright citizenship a "magnet for illegal immigration."
Trump and his supporters focus on one phrase in the amendment — "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" – saying it means the US can deny citizenship to babies born to women in the country illegally.
A series of federal judges have said that’s not true and issued nationwide injunctions stopping his order from taking effect.
