(UNITED STATES) The Supreme Court will decide next year whether President Trump can narrow birthright citizenship by enforcing Executive Order 14160, a sweeping directive he signed on January 20, 2025, the first day of his second term. The order seeks to deny automatic citizenship to many children born on U.S. soil to noncitizen parents.
The justices agreed on Friday to hear challenges to the order, formally titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The order would bar citizenship for babies born in the United States after February 19, 2025, if neither parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
The case will be argued in the spring, with a ruling expected by early summer. It marks the first time in Trump’s second term that the Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of one of his immigration orders. At stake is how the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause applies to families without permanent status.
What Executive Order 14160 does
Executive Order 14160 targets two specific groups of children born in the United States:
- Children whose mothers were unlawfully present in the United States at the time of birth, when the father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
- Children whose mothers held only temporary lawful status (for example: student, tourist, or Visa Waiver visitors) at birth, when the father also lacked citizenship or a green card.
These changes would deny automatic birthright citizenship to those groups beginning after February 19, 2025.
Legal challenges and lower court decisions
Multiple lawsuits were filed by states, civil rights groups, and affected families. Several federal district courts issued nationwide preliminary injunctions, finding the order likely violated both:
- the Fourteenth Amendment, and
- Section 201 of the Nationality Act of 1940, which has long reflected the broad rule of citizenship by birth on U.S. soil.
On June 27, 2025, the Supreme Court issued a 6–3 decision that narrowed those injunctions. The Court said the injunctions could protect only the specific plaintiffs and the states that sued, not the entire nation.
- The Court barred the administration from applying or enforcing the order for at least 30 days after that ruling.
- After that window closed, the order was allowed to take effect in states that did not join any lawsuit.
Practical consequences and uncertainty
As a result of the Court’s narrowing, families in states that did not challenge Executive Order 14160 now face deep uncertainty when a baby is born.
Hospitals, local registrars, and state agencies are struggling to decide how to record births when parents cannot show either U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residence. This raises the risk that children could grow up without clear legal status, even though they were born in the United States 🇺🇸.
Central constitutional question
The legal debate centers on the short but contested phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” in the Fourteenth Amendment, which states:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”
The Trump administration argues that many children of noncitizens do not meet that condition and therefore fall outside the promise of birthright citizenship.
D. John Sauer, the administration’s lead Supreme Court lawyer, wrote:
“The Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause was adopted to grant citizenship to newly freed slaves and their children—not to the children of aliens illegally or temporarily in the United States.”
Supporters of the order say Trump is simply “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” by limiting automatic status to babies with deeper ties through a citizen or green card–holding parent.
Arguments from opponents
Challengers counter with multiple lines of reasoning:
- They point to more than 125 years of Supreme Court precedent and the Nationality Act of 1940, which they say protect a broad rule that anyone born on U.S. soil—except children of foreign diplomats or occupying foreign armies—receives citizenship at birth.
- They warn Executive Order 14160 could create a shadow generation of stateless or undocumented children, especially in mixed-status families where one parent lacks papers and the other holds only temporary permission to stay.
- They stress that Congress has never passed a law restricting citizenship for children born in the country to parents who lack green cards, and that both Democratic and Republican administrations previously treated such children as citizens.
Political and advocacy landscape
Support for the administration:
- 24 Republican-led states and 27 Republican members of Congress, including Senators Ted Cruz (TX) and Lindsey Graham (SC), filed briefs backing the administration.
- They argue that Congress and the president must be able to limit what they call “birth tourism” and the incentive to enter or remain unlawfully to secure citizenship for future children.
Opposition:
- Immigrant rights groups, constitutional scholars, and several Democratic-led states oppose the order, arguing the president cannot rewrite the Fourteenth Amendment or overturn long-settled readings of the Nationality Act by executive action alone.
Who would be affected
According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, a change to birthright citizenship would reshape long-settled expectations for millions of immigrant families. The order could affect:
- recent border crossers,
- international students,
- tourists,
- seasonal workers, and others on lawful but temporary visas.
Below is a simple summary table of the groups specifically targeted by the order:
| Group at child’s birth | Effect under Executive Order 14160 |
|---|---|
| Mother unlawfully present; father not citizen/LPR | Denied automatic citizenship |
| Mother with temporary lawful status (student/tourist/Visa Waiver); father not citizen/LPR | Denied automatic citizenship |
| Children of foreign diplomats/occupying armies | Longstanding exception — not citizens |
Immediate responses from families
Families already impacted are taking immediate steps:
- Rushing to gather documents and legal advice.
- Some are applying for passports or Consular Reports of Birth Abroad where a U.S. citizen parent can claim a child.
- Others with less clear status are turning to the official USCIS resource: https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship and local legal clinics to explore options.
What’s next
The Supreme Court’s final ruling, expected by early summer, will define how far a president can go in reshaping citizenship rules through executive action alone. Lawyers on both sides are preparing arguments that will cover:
- constitutional text and history,
- the practical number of children who could lose automatic citizenship,
- and the consequences for schools, healthcare systems, and everyday life in mixed-status communities.
For now, every newborn’s legal future in affected states remains unsettled.
The Supreme Court will decide whether Executive Order 14160 can strip automatic citizenship from children born after Feb. 19, 2025, to noncitizen parents. Lower courts issued nationwide injunctions, later narrowed by a 6–3 Supreme Court ruling allowing enforcement in states that did not sue. The dispute centers on the Fourteenth Amendment phrase “subject to the jurisdiction.” The Court will hear arguments in spring, with a decision expected by early summer, leaving many families legally uncertain.
