The Supreme Court on June 30, 2026, ruled that children born in the United States to parents who are illegal immigrants or temporary visitors are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. In a 5-4 decision in Trump v. Barbara (No. 25-365), the Court invalidated key provisions of Trump’s Executive Order titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.”

Citizenship Clause

Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. The Court held that children born on American soil to illegal immigrants or temporary visitors are “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore citizens under the Clause.

The majority grounded its ruling in English common law principles of jus soli—citizenship by birth within the sovereign’s territory— as reflected in Calvin’s Case and Blackstone’s Commentaries. Under this tradition, children born within a sovereign’s dominions owed natural allegiance in exchange for protection, subject only to narrow exceptions such as children of foreign ministers.

Dissenting Opinions

Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, authored the principal dissent. He contended that the majority adopted an overly broad, feudal notion of allegiance based solely on territorial birth. In Thomas’s view, post-Revolution American law increasingly required domicile (a permanent home with intent to remain) for full citizenship and complete jurisdiction.

Original reporting: Must Read Alaska (Anchorage) — read the source article.