Washington DC [US], December 6 (ANI): The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that seeks to end birthright citizenship, reviving a legal debate that dates to the late 19th century, CNN reports.
By taking the case, the high court has moved beyond earlier procedural questions it resolved this year and will now directly address whether the policy is lawful.
Cecillia Wang, national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the ACLU welcomes the development and looks forward to the Supreme Court “putting this issue to rest once and for all.” She noted that federal courts have uniformly found the executive order to conflict with the Constitution, the Supreme Court’s 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, and federal statute.
Legal scholars say the administration’s argument is unconventional. A ruling in favor of the administration could overturn a long-standing principle of US constitutional and immigration law and would affect how citizenship for children born on US soil is recorded. The court is expected to hear the case next year and to issue a decision by the end of June.
CNN Supreme Court analyst and Georgetown Law professor Steve Vladeck criticized the administration’s position as “wrong,” saying it conflicts with relevant statutes, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Court’s controlling 1898 decision in Wong Kim Ark, which established that most people born in the United States are citizens, subject to narrow exceptions.
The administration has argued that Wong Kim Ark has been misread for more than a century and that the Citizenship Clause was intended to protect formerly enslaved persons and their descendants, not “the children of temporary visitors or illegal aliens,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the Court. In filings, the administration contended that the traditional understanding of the clause “was mistaken” and had “destructive consequences.” Ending birthright citizenship has been a central element of Trump’s immigration agenda.
Earlier this year the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling on a related procedural question, narrowing—but not eliminating—lower courts’ authority to block presidential actions.
(This report is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or content.)
ANI
Updated At : 07:00 AM Dec 06, 2025 IST
