The US Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, a major setback for Trump

The predominantly conservative US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump's challenge to a central issue of American identity, birthright citizenship, a major setback for the Republican president.

By a vote of six to three, those of three conservatives, including the Chief Justice, and the three progressives, the Court overturned an executive order signed on January 20, 2025 by Donald Trump upon his return to the White House, the most contested of his second term.

This decree, declared unconstitutional by all lower courts seized, abolished birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants in order to put an end to what Donald Trump considers an incentive for illegal immigration, the suppression of which is an absolute priority for him.

In his ruling written on behalf of the Court, President John Roberts concluded that children born in the United States to parents "unlawfully or temporarily present" are "citizens by birth under the 14th Amendment" of the Constitution.

"Citizenship, then as now, was the right to have rights, to participate freely in our political community," he wrote at the end of a long historical analysis of nationality in the United States.

"The drafters of the 14th Amendment extended this promise to 'every person born free in this country'. We are keeping that promise today," the Chief Justice continued.

The three other conservative judges expressed their disagreement.

The principle of birthright citizenship, which stipulates that any child born in the United States is automatically an American citizen, was enshrined in this amendment adopted in 1868, after the Civil War, in order to guarantee the rights of freed slaves and their descendants.

Applied for over 150 years, this principle was enshrined in 1898 by a Supreme Court ruling recognizing that a son of Chinese immigrants born in California was indeed an American citizen by birth.

"Fundamental American promise"

This is the third significant setback inflicted on Donald Trump by the Supreme Court in recent months, after the invalidation in February of his tariffs and the retention on Monday of a governor of the Federal Reserve (Fed) whom he wanted to dismiss.

He deplored the Supreme Court's endorsement of birthright citizenship, "which is really bad" for the United States, according to him, but assured on his Truth Social network that it would be possible to abolish it through legislation.

On the contrary, a legal expert, Gerard Magliocca, believes that the Court, by ruling on a constitutional basis, has decided in a "fairly definitive" manner.

"It seems very unlikely that this will happen again in our lifetime," this law professor at Indiana University told AFP, welcoming the fact that "the issue has been settled for the millions of people affected."

"The Court's decision reaffirms a fundamental American promise: if you were born here, you are a citizen of this country," reacted Cecillia Wang, the legal director of the influential civil rights organization ACLU, which had argued before the Court in favor of overturning the decree.

"A president cannot change the Constitution by the whim of the prince," she added.

In April, the American president exceptionally attended the proceedings before the Court, a sign of the importance he attaches to this case.

This decree prohibited the federal government from issuing passports, citizenship certificates or other documents to children born in the United States whose mother is staying there illegally or temporarily, and whose father is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident - holder of the famous "green card".

Also targeted were the children of temporary residents in the United States on student, work, or tourist visas.

According to projections made in May 2025 by researchers at Penn State University, at a rate of approximately 255,000 births per year, revoking birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants or temporary residents would increase the number of undocumented immigrants by 2.7 million by 2045 and by 5.4 million by 2075.

AFP