The United States supreme court has struck down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship.
In a 6-3 ruling delivered on Tuesday, the court held that the US constitution guarantees citizenship at birth to children born in the country, including those whose parents are undocumented immigrants or are residing in the United States on a temporary basis.
The decision marks a significant setback for Trump’s efforts to narrow the scope of the citizenship clause contained in the fourteenth amendment.
Writing for the majority, John Roberts, the chief justice, said the constitutional guarantee of citizenship remains a foundational principle of American democracy.
“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land’,” Roberts wrote.
“We keep that promise today.”
The US constitution’s 14th amendment says people “born or naturalised” in the country are citizens.
However, Trump has long argued that foreign nationals exploit the provision of the law by travelling to the US to give birth, thereby driving up migration numbers.
Just hours after taking office last January, Trump issued an executive order ending the birthright citizenship privilege.
Despite being initially blocked by court injunctions, the Trump administration continued to warn foreign nationals against engaging in birth tourism, promising strict penalties for defaulters.
Last July, the US embassy in Nigeria said travel applications would be denied if consular officers had reason to believe that birthright citizenship is the main motivation.
Credit: TheCable
