Supreme Court Backs Trump's Effort to Limit Birthright Citizenship

The US Supreme Court backed President Donald Trump's efforts to limit birthright citizenship, ordering lower courts to reconsider their injunctions. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices granted a request by the White House to narrow the scope of three injunctions issued by federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington State. The federal courts had halted enforcement of Trump's directive, which aimed to deny US citizenship to children born in the country without at least one parent who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident.

Trump's executive order sought to repeal birthright citizenship granted to babies born in the US, regardless of their parents' citizenship. The US Constitution grants American citizenship to anyone born in the United States under birthright citizenship, including children born to mothers in the country illegally. The right was enshrined in the US Constitution's 14th Amendment soon after the Civil War, according to the Associated Press.

Under the directive, over 150,000 newborns would be denied citizenship annually, including Democratic attorneys general of 22 states as well as immigrant rights advocates and pregnant immigrants. Following Trump's order, several federal judges took steps, including issuing nationwide orders, to impede the president's use of executive order to advance his agenda.