Members of the media interview supporters of the U.S. Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling, on the day the court is set to issue the final rulings of its nine-month term, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 30, 2026. REUTERS/Cheney Orr
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against President Donald Trump's efforts to eliminate birthright citizenship, a constitutional right established in 1868.
Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority, "Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community," in Tuesday's ruling.
Trump, pressured by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, had long sought to overturn the constitutional protection, according to Bulwark Media. Miller called last week for a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in favor of elimination, claiming anything less would "mean a nonfunctioning democracy," Yahoo News reported.
The decision was forecast months earlier, after Trump stormed out of the courtroom during an April birthright citizenship hearing.
William Baude, professor at the University of Chicago’s Constitutional Law Institute, predicted the court's ruling against Trump as recently as last weekend.
Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed the U.S. is the only country with birthright citizenship, despite similar protections existing in dozens of nations, including Canada and Mexico, according to The Washington Post.
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