President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship will be in front of the Supreme Court on Thursday, but the discussion may have more to do with the judicial system than with parents and kids.
Although several lawsuits over the legality of the order are ongoing, the Supreme Court was specifically asked to address the use of universal injunctions, a type of ruling that puts a challenged policy on hold nationwide.
The Trump administration wants the court to limit the effect of their lower-court losses in birthright citizenship cases by ruling that judges can only block an order with respect to the people or regions involved.
But the states, cities, pregnant women and immigrants’ rights groups challenging Trump’s order believe universal injunctions were properly used in their cases. Chaos would follow if the order took effect in some states while being on hold in others, they say.
The justices seem to believe the conflict would benefit from their input sooner rather than later, since they adjusted the court’s spring calendar in order to hear the birthright citizenship case.
Originally, April 30 was meant to be the final day of oral arguments in the court’s 2024-25 term. When the justices agreed to weigh in on universal injunctions, they scheduled the hearing for Thursday (May 15).
Here’s what you need to know ahead of Thursday’s court session.
What’s birthright citizenship?
Birthright citizenship refers to the Constitution’s promise of citizenship to nearly all babies born in the United States.
The concept comes from the Fourteenth Amendment, which begins, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Most legal scholars interpret the Fourteenth Amendment to mean that children born to immigrants living in the country illegally or foreign visitors in the U.S. are U.S. citizens, despite the fact that their parents are not.
What’s in Trump’s birthright citizenship order?
Trump challenged that interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment in an executive order released on Jan. 20, the day he returned to the White House for his second term.
The order says that babies born to parents who are unlawfully in the U.S. or in the U.S. on a temporary visa should not be considered “subject to the jurisdiction” of the country and, therefore, not granted automatic citizenship.
Who is challenging Trump’s birthright citizenship order?
Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship is the subject of several lawsuits.
The three cases that were consolidated for Supreme Court review involve expectant mothers, immigrants’ rights groups, 22 states and two cities. The challengers argue that the order violates the Fourteenth Amendment.
What happened in the lower courts?
In all three of the cases, lower court judges issued nationwide injunctions, which are preventing the Trump administration from enforcing the order.
Although the cases are still in a preliminary stage, the judges said the Trump administration is unlikely to successfully defend the order once courts fully consider the constitutional questions that have been raised.
How did the Supreme Court get involved?
In March, the Trump administration turned to the Supreme Court for help.
Sarah Harris, who was then acting as the U.S. solicitor general, asked the justices to limit the scope of the injunctions put in place by lower-court judges and thereby clear the way for the birthright citizenship order to take effect in part of the U.S.
What questions are in front of the Supreme Court?
The main question in front of the court is the one raised by Harris. The justices are considering whether it was proper for the lower courts to put universal injunctions in place.
The court may also consider a separate question raised in the Trump administration’s briefs: whether the states involved in the case actually have standing to sue to block the order’s implementation.
Last but not least, the Supreme Court could decide to dig into the question of whether or not the order violates the Fourteenth Amendment, which all parties in the case briefly addressed in their filings.
When are oral arguments?
Oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case will begin at 8 a.m. MDT on Thursday.
An audio feed of what’s happening in the courtroom will be available on the Supreme Court’s website.
The justices’ decision in the case is expected to be released by early July.