Overview
- Justices granted certiorari in Barbara v. United States to assess the legality of President Trump’s birthright citizenship order, with arguments expected in early 2026.
- Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 executive order seeks to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. to parents who are unlawfully present or only temporarily in the country.
- Lower courts largely blocked the policy, but in June the Supreme Court allowed it to take effect in states that did not sue to preserve birthright citizenship.
- Solicitor General D. John Sauer argues the 14th Amendment was intended to secure citizenship for formerly enslaved people and can exclude children of parents lacking lawful status, distinguishing United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
- The ACLU and other civil-rights groups say the order violates the Constitution and binding precedent, and the Court declined to hear a related state challenge.