A U.S. federal appellate court has determined that an executive order which limited birthright citizenship is in violation of the Constitution.
The order, which President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office on January 20, 2025, imposed strict restrictions on who qualifies for birthright citizenship. It would no longer automatically provide citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants born in the U.S.
But on Wednesday, judges from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the order violated the Constitution.
The panel stated, ‘We conclude that the Executive Order is invalid as it conflicts with the clear wording of the Fourteenth Amendment’s provision granting citizenship to ‘all persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’ We have authority under 28 U.S.C. ยง 1292(a)(1).’
The Trump administration claimed that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” indicated that the U.S. could refuse citizenship to children born to women who were in the country unlawfully.
RELATED STORY | Supreme Court curtails broad injunctions in dispute over birthright citizenship
A federal judge based in New Hampshire decided in early July that the executive order under consideration was not allowed to be implemented across the United States.
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court restricted the use of nationwide injunctions issued by lower courts in a legal dispute concerning the birthright citizenship policy.
That decision may have consequences extending well beyond the birthright citizenship case.
“Because of this ruling, we are now able to accurately submit requests to move forward with these various policies and those that were incorrectly blocked across the country, such as birthright citizenship, terminating funding for sanctuary cities, halting refugee resettlement, freezing non-essential funding, preventing federal taxpayers from covering transgender surgeries, and several other key concerns of the American public,” President Trump stated at that time.
