President Donald Trump (R) said birthright citizenship is a disgrace and warned the Supreme Court would do a disservice if it upholds the practice [1].
The comments place public pressure on the nation's highest court as it prepares to rule on a foundational element of U.S. immigration and citizenship law. A reversal of birthright citizenship would fundamentally alter the legal status of millions of people born in the U.S. to non-citizen parents.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said birthright citizenship is a disgrace [1]. He said it would be a disgrace if the Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship [3].
The president's remarks come as the court considers whether to strike down the long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which has historically granted citizenship to nearly all persons born on U.S. soil. Trump has consistently opposed the policy and expressed the expectation that the court will move to end it [1, 2, 4].
While some reports suggested the president might expect the court to allow the practice, the majority of verified accounts indicate he expects the court to strike it down [2, 3, 4]. He has previously attacked the judicial picks involved in the process ahead of the ruling [4].
The legal battle centers on the interpretation of the phrase "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" as written in the Constitution. Supporters of the current system argue the language is absolute, while critics like Trump argue it serves as an incentive for illegal immigration.
“"Birthright citizenship is a disgrace."”
This move signals a direct attempt by the executive branch to influence the judiciary on a high-stakes constitutional issue. If the Supreme Court aligns with the president's view, it would overturn decades of legal precedent, potentially stripping citizenship from future generations and creating a new class of stateless individuals within U.S. borders.
