The backlash comes after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s administration, which upheld the practice of automatically granting citizenship to nearly all individuals born in the United States.
The 6-3 ruling on birthright citizenship represents a significant rebuke to one of President Trump’s most ambitious efforts to overhaul long-standing U.S. immigration practices.
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The majority argued that birthright citizenship is rooted in both the U.S. Constitution and long-standing practices dating back to British common law, rejecting the Trump administration’s argument that it should apply only to U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
Still, three justices sided with the Trump administration, arguing that the 14th Amendment does not explicitly grant rights to all immigrant children in the country.
Here’s how Trump administration officials, U.S. lawmakers and supporters reacted to the ruling.
President Trump and his executives
Stephen Miller, Trump’s top adviser and the architect of his tough approach on immigration, called the decision “one of the most devastating and outrageous decisions” in the history of the country’s highest court.
“American citizenship is not a universal birthright,” he wrote in a post to
Meanwhile, President Trump said the decision was “too bad for our country.”
In a post on his Truth Social account, he called on Congress to pass a law restricting birthright citizenship. The president argued that there was a way to do so that did not involve amending the U.S. Constitution, which would require a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of Congress.
But legal experts say that given the justices’ emphasis on the 14th Amendment in their rulings, a constitutional amendment or at least a retrial of the case would be necessary.
The Supreme Court rarely reconsiders cases, usually requiring new legal theories, but a bill passed by Congress to abolish birthright citizenship could lay the groundwork for the issue to return to the Supreme Court.
“Congress should begin today to eliminate birthright citizenship, which is costly and unfair to our country. They have my full and complete support!” Trump wrote.
Separately, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in response to the ruling that it would prioritize prosecuting so-called “national birth tourism schemes.”
“Actors who seek to exploit the loophole to obtain automatic citizenship for children pose a national security threat and will be brought to justice,” it said.
rights defender
Immigrant and rights advocates hailed the ruling as a major victory.
In a statement, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called the decision “one of the most important constitutional cases of the past 100 years.”
“The president put his own legacy on the line to try to secure a victory for this policy, even attending the debate in person,” Anthony Romero said in a statement. “And the president lost.”
Kika Matos, director of the National Immigration Law Center, called the ruling “an important victory for our democracy and our communities who bravely challenged President Trump’s gross abuse of power in his attempt to rewrite the Constitution.”
“While this result provides welcome relief, it also shows how fragile even the most basic constitutional guarantees have become,” Matos said.
“The 14th Amendment is clear and decisive, and this decision could not have come closer.”
elected official
Reactions from elected officials have also been divided sharply along partisan lines.
Several Republicans have vowed to continue pursuing restrictions on birthright citizenship in Congress, and Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham said he would make the issue one of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top priorities.
“I will continue to push to fix this major driver of birth tourism and illegal immigration to the United States,” he wrote to X.
Sen. Eric Schmitt argued that birthright citizenship is not protected by the 14th Amendment, pointing to an opinion written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who supported the majority decision.
Rather, Kavanaugh said President Trump’s executive order violates the Immigration and Nationality Act and suggested Congress could amend the law or create new legislation to circumvent it.
Schmidt wrote that Kavanaugh “may have opened the door for Congress.”
“I am introducing legislation to overcome this problem, and I will continue to work on a constitutional amendment to restore American citizenship,” he said.
Several Democratic members of Congress have vowed to continue to oppose the Trump administration’s efforts to overhaul U.S. immigration laws.
“This is personal. I am proud to be the son of immigrants. I was born in the United States,” Sen. Alex Padilla said in a statement. “I am a proud American citizen with the freedom to pursue the American Dream.”
“But even as we celebrate this verdict today, we cannot rest,” he said. “Because this is not the end of Trump’s attacks on our Constitution, our democracy, and the concept of what it means to be an American.”
