Overview
- The justices granted review in Barbara v. United States, with arguments expected in early 2026 and a decision likely by June 2026.
- President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 executive order seeks to withhold automatic citizenship from children born to mothers who are unlawfully present or only temporarily in the U.S. when the other parent is neither a citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.
- Lower federal courts largely blocked the order, though the Supreme Court in June allowed limited implementation in states that did not sue to preserve birthright citizenship.
- The case tests an originalist reading of "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" against longstanding precedent, notably United States v. Wong Kim Ark, as Solicitor General D. John Sauer argues the amendment did not extend to children of unlawfully or temporarily present noncitizens.
- Civil rights groups and Democratic officials say the Constitution guarantees near-universal birthright citizenship, while the Court declined to take a related challenge brought by several states at this time.