One of President Donald Trump’s goals has been to remove birthright citizenship, or the citizenship granted to anyone born on American land, from all Americans. He issued an executive order on his first day of his second term, January 20, 2025, to end birthright citizenship, but the change has been blocked by every federal court that has considered it for being unconstitutional. Now, the issue has been taken to the Supreme Court, and it appears that they are unlikely to approve the change as well.

The 14th Amendment was originally created in 1858 to revoke the Supreme Court’s decision in 1857 during the court case Dred Scott v. Sandford to not grant any of the federal courts’ protection to Black people born in America because, even though they were born in the US, they were not considered citizens. Also known as the citizenship clause, the 14th Amendment grants United States citizenship to any person born in the United States.

In his executive order 14156, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” Trump acknowledged the 14th Amendment’s use in repealing the Supreme Court’s decision in 1857, but attempted to change it to exclude scenarios where the parents are undocumented, temporary visitors, or not lawful permanent residents. Now not all babies born on United States land will automatically be US citizens, especially if they meet these conditions.

Trump faced protest against his decision to get rid of birthright citizenship even in his own party. Barbara was an undocumented woman from Honduras who was pregnant and sued Trump and his removal of birthright citizenship out of concern for her child’s future. Many judges across several courts have ruled against Trump and rejected his executive order. The first judge to consider it, Senior US District Judge John Coughenour, said that it was “blatantly unconstitutional.” 

The Trump v. Barbara case went to the Supreme court and the results will come out in June or July. In a national first, Trump became the first US president to attend oral arguments at the US Supreme Court on April 1, 2026. It is seeming likely that the court will rule against Trump.

Cites – 

https://www.asianlawcaucus.org/news-resources/news/supreme-court-arguments-barbara-v-trump-birthright-citizenship

https://www.news18.com/amp/explainers/trump-vs-barbara-what-is-the-battle-for-birthright-citizenship-playing-out-in-us-supreme-court-10011778.html

https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/nation-world/barbara-citizenship-supreme-court-honduras-trump/507-41767162-bc7a-42d3-a957-22802e5ab7f9

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/publications/preview_home/trump-v-barbara/

https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/04/supreme-court-appears-likely-to-side-against-trump-on-birthright-citizenship/

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/breaking-down-trump-end-birthright-citizenship/

https://www.aila.org/library/president-trump-signs-executive-order-protecting-the-meaning-and-value-of-american-citizenship

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7vdnlmgyndo

https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/01/23/judge-grants-was-request-to-temporarily-block-trumps-birthright-citizenship-order/