Birthright Citizenship
Every now and then, the Supreme Court reminds us that the Constitution isn’t a menu. You don’t get to keep the parts you like and cross out the rest with a Sharpie.
In a welcome rebuke to the Trump administration, the Court reaffirmed one of the clearest guarantees in the Constitution: if you’re born in the United States, you’re an American citizen. That principle has stood for more than 150 years, ever since the ratification of the 14th Amendment in the aftermath of the Civil War. It survived world wars, depressions, and political upheaval. It also survived Donald Trump.
The administration argued that a president could effectively rewrite the Citizenship Clause through executive action. The Court correctly said otherwise. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship at birth to children born in the United States, including those whose parents are unlawfully or temporarily present. “We keep that promise today,” he concluded.
We keep that promise today. Not because it’s politically convenient. Not because public opinion demands it. But because constitutions are designed to restrain power, especially when powerful people decide they’d rather ignore them.
Trump has already vowed to keep fighting, this time through Congress. He’s free to try. That’s how constitutional democracy is supposed to work. If Americans truly want to redefine citizenship, the Constitution provides a mechanism: amend it.
What it doesn’t provide is a shortcut through executive fiat. For one day, at least, the rule of law won. And in times like these, that’s worth celebrating.
And yet it was a 5 - 4 decision, what the serious hell? This should have never been taken up in the first place and for it to come so close to being put down was terrifying!
Thirty three countries including Canada and Mexico have unrestricted birthright citizenship. Yet trump continues to claim we are the only one. Deranged as he is, sometimes he must know he is lying. I’m grateful the Supreme Court came through this time, but sometimes they do seem to think the constitution is a “pick and choose menu”.