The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday in a case involving President Trump’s January 2025 executive order that sought to prevent certain children born in the United States from being automatically recognized as U.S. citizens when their parents entered the country illegally or on a temporary visa.
Following the issuance of the executive order, lawsuits were filed in federal district courts in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington. Each court ruled against the Trump administration and issued nationwide preliminary injunctions that blocked the enforcement and implementation of the policy across the entire country.
Judge John C. Coughenour of the U.S. District Court in Seattle described birthright citizenship as a “fundamental right, a constitutional right,” and criticized the administration for attempting to change the Constitution through an executive order. “The Constitution is not something the government can play policy games with,” said Coughenour.
The administration has not focused its Supreme Court argument on defending the constitutionality of the birthright citizenship policy itself, but rather on the procedural issue of nationwide injunctions. It has asked the Supreme Court to narrow the lower court injunctions to apply only to the plaintiffs and states involved in the lawsuits and to allow agencies to begin internal preparations for implementing the policy while the legal challenges proceed.
The justices seemed divided during the more than two-hour oral argument. Justice Sonia Sotomayor emphasized the disruption that could occur if the injunctions were lifted. She remarked that removing the nationwide orders could lead to potentially thousands of lawsuits. Justice Elena Kagan noted that the administration had lost in every lower court that considered the policy.
Some conservative justices expressed concern about the scope of judicial power. Justice Brett Kavanaugh questioned whether the plaintiffs could pursue class-action lawsuits instead of relying on nationwide injunctions. Justice Neil Gorsuch appeared sympathetic to that view.
Justice Samuel Alito raised a different concern, asking whether allowing all 680 federal district court judges to issue nationwide injunctions could lead to chaos. He also expressed skepticism about whether class actions would truly solve the problem, noting, “So the answer is that the practical problem would not be solved.”
Justice Amy Coney Barrett questioned the administration’s position on whether it would follow circuit court rulings if they conflicted with its interpretation of the law. When Solicitor General D. John Sauer responded that “there are circumstances when it is not a categorical practice,” Barrett and other justices pressed for clarification.
“What do hospitals do with a newborn? What do states do with a newborn?” Justice Kavanaugh asked. Sauer responded that federal officials would have to figure out what to do, but Kavanaugh did not seem satisfied with that answer.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also voiced concern about the practical effects of limiting injunctions. She said the administration’s approach could turn the justice system into a “catch-me-if-you-can” regime where individuals must file lawsuits to prevent rights violations.
Though the issue in front of the Supreme Court focuses heavily on the procedural questions surrounding nationwide injunctions, the underlying legal issue involves the interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. That clause, adopted after the Civil War and overturning the Supreme Court’s 1857 Dred Scott ruling, which denied citizenship to Black Americans, affirms that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
The Trump administration, however, has argued that individuals born to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are therefore not entitled to birthright citizenship. Most legal scholars have rejected this interpretation, and previous Supreme Court rulings, such as United States v. Wong Kim Ark, have affirmed the citizenship of children born in the U.S. to noncitizen parents.
A ruling in the case is expected by the summer.
Additional Reading
Supreme Court grapples with nationwide orders blocking birthright citizenship ban, ABA Journal (May 15, 2025)
Supreme Court justices appear divided in birthright citizenship arguments, NPR (May 15, 2025)
Image Credit: Sergii Figurnyi / Shutterstock.com
