Trump hails ‘giant win’ after Supreme Court paves way for huge citizenship rights overhaul | World | News
Donald Trump was handed a major victory on Friday amid his administration’s plans to end automatic birthright citizenship in the US. Under the current rules, most people born on US territory have automatic citizenship rights, with some exceptions. This is commonly known as “birthright citizenship”.
However, on his first day back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending this right. A series of lawsuits were launched in the wake of President Trump’s move, with district courts issuing nationwide injunctions aiming to block the order from coming into force. However, the Supreme Court ruled on June 27 that the President’s executive order was permissible. Celebrating the ruling, President Trump wrote on Truth Social: “GIANT WIN in the United States Supreme Court! Even the Birthright Citizenship Hoax has been, indirectly, hit hard. It had to do with the babies of slaves (same year!), not the SCAMMING of our Immigration process.”
The Supreme Court’s decision, which was on cases filed in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state, was also heralded by some Republican lawmakers. Republican Congressman Jim Jordan said: “Today’s decision is a huge victory for the separation of powers and the American people. Rogue district court judges should not be able to unilaterally delay President Trump’s agenda that 77 million Americans voted for this past November.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi added: “Today, the Supreme Court instructed district courts to STOP the endless barrage of nationwide injunctions against President Trump.
“This would not have been possible without tireless work from our excellent lawyers at the Justice Department and our Solicitor General John Sauer. This Department of Justice will continue to zealously defend Trump’s policies and his authority to implement them.”
However, Democrat House member Debbie Wasserman Schultz was scathing of the decision: “A right-wing Supreme Court majority let Trump rip away birthright citizenship, forcing individuals to file burdensome lawsuits to get it back. It’s a vile betrayal of our Constitution. We must stand up, speak out, and fight back.”
Writing the dissenting opinion, leading liberal Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote: “As every conceivable source of law confirms, birthright citizenship is the law of the land.
“That holding renders constitutional guarantees meaningful in name only for any individuals who are not parties to a lawsuit. Because I will not be complicit in so grave an attack on our system of law, I dissent.”
Following the Supreme Court’s move, the policy remains blocked only in New Hampshire, where a separate lawsuit is not before the higher court. Mr Trump’s plan has already been backed in 21 other states.
The Supreme Court’s decision does not address the legal merits of the policy but, rather, whether judges have the authority of putting the plan on hold across the whole country.
