United States President Donald Trump has suffered a major legal setback after the US Supreme Court struck down his executive order seeking to end automatic birthright citizenship for some children born in the country.
In a 6-3 ruling, the nation’s highest court reaffirmed the constitutional principle that grants American citizenship to babies born on US soil, preserving a legal precedent that has been in place for more than 150 years.
Trump had signed an executive order aimed at denying automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to parents living in the country illegally or those holding temporary visas.
The decision effectively ends the president’s attempt to change the long-standing interpretation of the Constitution through executive action, leaving little room for the policy to be revived.
Reacting to the judgment, Trump criticised the ruling in a post on his Truth Social platform, describing it as a setback for the country while arguing that lawmakers could still pursue legislative action on the issue.
“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country,” Trump says in a post on social media platform Truth Social.
His statement goes on to suggest Congress will be able to limit birthright citizenship through legislation, despite the court’s ruling.
“We can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process. No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my Complete and Total Support!”
The ruling marks a significant defeat for Trump’s immigration agenda, as the Supreme Court’s decision leaves the constitutional protection for birthright citizenship intact.
In separate rulings issued on the same day, the Supreme Court also cleared the way for states to prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women’s school sports and struck down restrictions on how campaign spending can be coordinated.
Source: (BBC News)