WASHINGTON (Kashmir English): Pakistani parents living in the US can breathe a sigh of relief as they won’t have to worry about losing automatic US citizenship for their newborn kids anymore.
The US Supreme Court defended “birthright citizenship” by rejecting an order issued by President Donald Trump that was aimed at limiting the same.
Although the court’s verdict does not apply specifically to Pakistanis only, it did help curtail fears that were raised among Pakistani immigrants living in America.
According to the SC ruling, even the children born to undocumented workers in the US or to people visiting America through some sort of visa will still be considered US nationals under the “Citizenship Clause” of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion. He was joined by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, as well as Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
On the other side of things, while Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed that Trump’s order could not take effect (because it clashed with a federal law passed in 1940), he was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch in dissent.
In this sense, the decision preserved what might be called “one of the oldest tenets of American citizenship law.” Since its passage in 1868, Congress has granted citizenship to nearly anyone born on US soil and subject to US jurisdiction.
Had the court let Trump’s order pass, it would have opened up the possibility for officials to deny citizenship to the tens of thousands of babies born each month to undocumented immigrants—or even just people temporarily visiting the United States.
Trump signed the executive order on January 20, 2025. The first day of his second term. He ordered federal agencies to deny “citizenship documents” to babies who are born in the US but whose parents lack legal status or hold temporary immigration status. But lower courts blocked the order after finding that it likely violates the Constitution.
