Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Supreme Court Weighs Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order Amid Constitutional Debate

News

Supreme Court Weighs Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order Amid Constitutional Debate

Members of CASA advocacy group gather outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. toask justices to protect birthright citizenship on May 15, 2025.

Angeles Ponpa/Medill NewsService

WASHINGTON- The Supreme Court on Thursday heard oral arguments over a Trump administration order that would deny automatic U.S. citizenship to children born on American soil to undocumented immigrant parents and others in the country temporarily. The order challenged more than a Century of legal precedent.

The case centers on Executive Order 14160, signed in January by President Donald Trump, which asserts that the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause does not apply to children born to noncitizens without permanent legal status. Lower courts swiftly blocked the policy, prompting a high-stakes showdown over both the scope of the amendment and the president's power to unilaterally reinterpret it.


Solicitor General D. John Sauer, defending the administration, argued that the 14th Amendment was intended to grant citizenship specifically to formerly enslaved people, not to “illegal aliens or people here temporarily.”

“We have our lower courts making snap judgments,” Sauer said, criticizing nationwide injunctions as judicial overreach.

Justices across the ideological spectrum appeared skeptical of the administration’s argument.

“Congress decides birthright citizenship, not the executive branch,” said Justice Sonia Sotomayor flatly.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh suggested that the administration’s order would create a chaotic situation for hospitals.

“How’s it going to work? What do hospitals do with a newborn? What do states do with newborns?” he said.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed concern that Trump’s ban would force many families to pay for lawyers and file lawsuits to prove their children are legitimate citizens.

“Your case is turning the court system into a ‘catch me if you can’ regime where everyone has to get a lawyer and file a lawsuit,” said Jackson.

Justice Elena Kagan raised practical concerns about fairness, suggesting that only individuals with the resources to sue would be able to protect their rights. “The ones who can’t afford to go to court, they’re the ones who are going to lose,” she said.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

Outside the courthouse, protesters gathered with signs defending the right to citizenship. Among them was Maya, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico City who came to the United States to follow her husband in pursuit of a better economic life. She asked that her last name not be published because she feared deportation.

“Our intention isn’t to come to this country and have kids, maybe that comes after,” she said in Spanish. “Those of us who migrate, we come with the intention of a better life. Citizenship for kids of undocumented parents is a right, It shouldn’t matter what political opinions people have.”

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who led a coalition of states challenging the order, warned that the executive action threatened to erode fundamental constitutional protections.

“If they can dismantle this amendment with a Sharpie and a stroke of a pen and give the president significant authority,” Campbell told the crowd, “It moves toward being a king versus a democratic president. They can come for the First Amendment, they can come for the Second.”

The case also raised questions about the legality of sweeping injunctions issued by federal judges to halt presidential policies nationwide. Some conservative justices indicated openness to curbing that power, even if they disagreed with the administration's reading of the Constitution.

Thursday’s arguments marked one of the most consequential immigration hearings at the high court in years, with implications that could go far beyond citizenship policy. A ruling in favor of the administration could significantly expand executive authority in defining constitutional rights.

A decision was expected by the end of June.

Angeles Ponpa is a graduate student at Northwestern Medill in the Politics, Policy, and Foreign Affairs specialization. Ponpa specializes in covering immigration and does bilingual reporting in both English and Spanish.

Read More

Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is a threat to American democracy
Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

MAGA Supreme Court Justices Show Their True Colors by Joining Trump’s Attack on the Federal Judiciary

Writing in 1788, Alexander Hamilton famously described the judiciary as “the least dangerous branch” of the federal government. He thought that it would never be in a position to do serious damage to American life because it had neither “the sword nor the purse…but merely judgment.”

President Trump and his allies seem to disagree with Hamilton’s characterization of the courts. They see them as a dangerous impediment to his effort to make America great again.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rule of Law or Rise of Fascism?

"Two Americans can look at the same institution and come to opposite conclusions about the state of our nation. One sees the rule of law still holding; the other sees fascism emerging," writes Debilyn Molineaux.

Getty Images, OsakaWayne Studios

Rule of Law or Rise of Fascism?

“A Republic, if you can keep it.” This famous quote from Benjamin Franklin reminds us of the constant attention required to sustain our system of governance. The founders debated, argued, and ultimately constructed a Constitution for a new nation—the first modern democratic republic in the Western world still dominated by empire-building monarchies. Yet we also inherited a heavy dose of ambition, a drive to attempt self-rule. The Glorious Revolution in England had paved the way for the rule of law, establishing new limits on monarchs and diminishing unchecked aristocratic power. Most importantly, it affirmed that no one—not even a king or queen—was above the law.

And yet, from the very beginning, there has been tension between this ideal and reality. Consider King George III. In the American imagination, he became the tyrant whose “repeated injuries and usurpations” justified rebellion. The Declaration of Independence lists grievance after grievance: refusal to assent to laws, stationing armies among the people, sending “swarms of officers to harass” colonists, and hiring foreign mercenaries to enforce his will. The image is one of unchecked despotism. A closer look at the grievances reveals that most were exaggerated or propaganda. Only two of the twenty-eight were actions that King George III personally directed or had the power to control.

Keep ReadingShow less
A close up of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge.

As part of the Trump Administration's many moves toward tackling the United States’ ‘immigrant crisis,’ the DOJ recently announced a prioritization of denaturalization procedures.

Getty Images, Tennessee Witney

Maybe I Will ‘Go Back to Where I Came From’

As part of the Trump Administration's many moves toward tackling the United States’ ‘immigrant crisis,’ the DOJ recently announced a prioritization of denaturalization procedures, a move that some migrant support organizations recognize as setting a dangerous precedent. But that’s not all, the Trump administration has also requested over $175 billion, which will be divided between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), detention centers, courts, among other things.

It seems that even those of us who have gone through the naturalization process are at risk. No one is truly safe. It doesn’t matter if you are doing things “the right way.” They don’t want us here. It was never about legality.

Keep ReadingShow less
Neighbors Turn to Each Other As ICE Raids Shake Los Angeles’ Immigrant Communities

Vendors sell merchandise in the Santee Alley area of the Fashion District on June 19, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Fear of ICE raids and the recent violent protests occurring nearby have hurt business, keeping shoppers away from from the area known for its cut-rate electronics, inexpensive clothing and large selections of quinceañera dresses.

Getty Images, Scott Olson

Neighbors Turn to Each Other As ICE Raids Shake Los Angeles’ Immigrant Communities

When federal immigration enforcement operations swept through Los Angeles earlier this summer, the effects rippled far beyond the undocumented community. Entire neighborhoods saw the slowdown of businesses as the sense of fear began to settle in. Yet, the absence of safety nets has encouraged residents to rely on one another.

Across the city, mutual aid networks, some long-standing and others entirely new, have mobilized to meet urgent needs. From advocacy nonprofits to autonomous street-defense teams to the vendors themselves, the response reveals a pattern: in times of crisis, communities turn inward, pooling resources, skills, and trust to keep each other afloat.

Keep ReadingShow less