The U.S. Supreme Court has declared invalid President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship, reports Todayinfo.kz.
According to TASS, five out of six justices stated that this right is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Another justice, while disagreeing with this interpretation of the Constitution, also deemed the executive order invalid because it contradicted federal law.
Donald Trump signed the said executive order on January 20, 2025, after taking office. Under the document, government agencies were required to deny citizenship to children born on U.S. soil whose parents were in the country illegally. It also provided for denying citizenship to infants whose mothers came to the U.S. on a temporary basis (under visa-free travel, student, work, or tourist visas) and whose fathers were not U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Explaining his executive order, the president said that the constitutional provision on birthright citizenship was originally adopted "to protect the children of slaves and their rights."
According to him, this rule "was not intended for billionaires from China or other countries."
The constitutional amendment establishing the right to birthright citizenship in the U.S. was adopted after the Civil War (1861-1865). As a result, the 1857 Supreme Court decision that denied African Americans the right to citizenship was overturned.
