A federal appeals court has ruled that an executive order that narrowed birthright citizenship in the U.S. is unconstitutional.
The order, which President Donald Trump signed on his first day in office on January 20, 2025, placed sharp limits on eligibility for birthright citizenship. It would no longer automatically grant citizenship at birth to children of immigrants in the U.S. without legal status.
But on Wednesday, judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the order was unconstitutional.
"We conclude that the Executive Order is invalid because it contradicts the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment’s grant of citizenship to “all persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1)," the panel wrote.
The Trump administration said the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” meant the U.S. could deny citizenship to children born from women in the country illegally.
RELATED STORY | Supreme Court limits universal injunctions in birthright citizenship fight
A federal judge in New Hampshire ruled earlier in July that the executive order in question could not take effect anywhere in the U.S.
And in June, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the scope of nationwide injunctions by lower courts in connection with a legal case involving the birthright citizenship order.
That ruling could have implications far beyond the birthright citizenship case.
"Thanks to this decision, we can now properly file to proceed with these numerous policies and those that have been wrongly enjoined on a nationwide basis, including birthright citizenship, ending sanctuary city funding, suspending refugee resettlement, freezing unnecessary funding, stopping federal taxpayers from paying for transgender surgeries and numerous other priorities of the American people," President Trump said at the time.
