In June, the Supreme Court ruled against President Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship for some individuals born in the United States.
Published July 9, 2026
President Donald Trump says he plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a recent case that invalidated an executive order that abolished birthright citizenship for everyone born in the United States.
The court last month rejected President Trump’s attempt to limit U.S. birthright citizenship, but the president said at a news conference Wednesday that he would request a retrial of the case.
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“American citizenship is not for sale! In fact, it is a crime and therefore the Supreme Court’s decision is wrong,” President Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social. “I will immediately ask the U.S. Supreme Court for review.”
The 6-3 ruling against President Trump’s order was a major blow to American leadership and his efforts to transform immigration policy.
President Trump, who took office on January 20, 2025, signed an executive order prohibiting parents with temporary legal status and undocumented U.S.-born parents from automatically obtaining U.S. citizenship.
President Trump called the ruling “too bad for our country” and called on Republicans in Congress to pass legislation restricting birthright citizenship. This is likely to be an uphill battle, as opinion polls regularly show strong public support for the practice and the Supreme Court’s majority opinion suggests a constitutional amendment is needed.
The Supreme Court rarely grants reconsideration requests, so it seems unlikely that Mr. Trump will hold a new hearing. It’s been decades since the court last ruled on a pending case and granted a new trial.
Review of immigration control
Since taking office, President Trump has considered overhauling nearly every form of immigration in the United States.
The court has previously handed down immigration-related victories in recent months, including allowing the president to effectively abolish a special legal status known as “temporary protected status” for residents of some crisis-hit countries, and employing the controversial tactic of physically blocking asylum seekers from setting foot on U.S. soil, where the government is legally obligated to grant protection.
But the Supreme Court voted against his proposal to limit birthright citizenship in the United States, ruling that his directive violated the language of the Fourteenth Amendment, which grants citizenship to people born in the United States “subject to the power of justice.”
Human rights groups welcomed the court’s decision. Cecilia Wang, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who argued the challenge before the Supreme Court, said the ruling “reaffirms America’s fundamental promise that if you are born here, you are a citizen.”
A study by the Pennsylvania Immigration Policy Institute released last May estimated that 255,000 children are born in the United States each year without citizenship under the mandate, increasing the undocumented population by 2.7 million by 2045.
The statement warned that the order “would create a permanent multigenerational underclass, with U.S.-born residents inheriting the social disadvantages inflicted by their parents and, over time, their grandparents and great-grandparents.”
