Overview

• The Justice Department filed two petitions on Friday seeking review of an executive order that would deny automatic citizenship to most U.S.-born children of noncitizens who lack permanent residency.
• The administration is appealing a July 9th Circuit decision that found the order unconstitutional and a New Hampshire class-action ruling that blocks enforcement for affected children nationwide.
• Officials told the Court they are not seeking immediate implementation of the policy, and the petitions shared with opposing counsel have not yet been docketed.
• The June Supreme Court ruling limiting universal injunctions did not address the order’s constitutionality, and lower courts have continued to halt the policy through state suits and class actions.
• The government frames universal birthright citizenship as a draw for illegal migration and “birth tourism,” while challengers cite the 14th Amendment and the Wong Kim Ark precedent as guaranteeing citizenship to nearly all born on U.S. soil.