TL;DR

• Supreme Court will hear the case on Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.
• Civil rights groups argue the 14th Amendment clearly grants citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil.
• Lower courts have already blocked the order as unconstitutional.
• Experts expect the Supreme Court to strike down the policy.
• Advocates warn the order invites racial profiling and harms immigrant families — including LGBTQ+ immigrants.

Supreme Court Takes Up Trump’s Bid to Limit Birthright Citizenship

A 150-year-old constitutional guarantee is suddenly back in the spotlight

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to wade into the legal chaos stirred up by Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship — a protection that’s been as American as apple pie since 1868. For over a century and a half, the 14th Amendment has guaranteed that anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen, full stop. But the former president, ever eager to pick a fight with history, law, and basic humanity, attempted to rewrite this bedrock principle with the stroke of a pen.

Now, thanks to dueling lawsuits and a federal government that’s been itching to test the limits of constitutional reality, the matter is headed to the highest court in the land.

Lower courts said “absolutely not” — and for good reason

The Justice Department is appealing two cases where judges already ruled the order unconstitutional. In one, the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon successfully argued that Trump’s directive violated both longstanding constitutional interpretation and federal law. The Ninth Circuit agreed.

In another case out of New Hampshire, a class action representing countless affected families won a nationwide block on the order — something the Supreme Court has said is allowed only in rare circumstances, including class actions like this.

Civil rights organizations, including the ACLU, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus, and Democracy Defenders Fund, are lined up against the administration’s push. And they’re not holding back. Cecillia Wang, ACLU national legal director, reminded the nation that “no president can change the 14th Amendment’s fundamental promise of citizenship.” Courts across the country — unanimously — have agreed that Trump’s policy is unconstitutional, unsupported, and frankly unserious.

Asian Law Caucus director Aarti Kohli slammed the proposal as dangerous and discriminatory. Requiring parents — even U.S. citizens — to prove immigration status before receiving a birth certificate would open the door to a tidal wave of racial profiling based on names, accents, or skin color. It’s a bureaucratic nightmare designed to target anyone who doesn’t fit an imagined mold of “American.”

Legal scholars expect the Supreme Court to shut this down

CNN legal analyst Steve Vladeck didn’t mince words: the executive order is “clearly wrong.” Whether it contradicts federal statutes, the 14th Amendment, or the Supreme Court’s own 1898 decision upholding birthright citizenship, the conclusion is the same — the policy is on life support.

And while the Court previously sided with Trump on narrowing injunctions, the justices now face the full constitutional question. According to Vladeck, even this ideologically fractured Court is likely to reject the order. The real suspense? Which legal route they’ll choose to do it.

The LGBTQ+ impact: why this fight matters to queer families

Birthright citizenship isn’t just an immigration issue — it’s a lifeline for countless LGBTQ+ families, especially queer immigrants, bi-national couples, and trans asylum seekers building new lives in the U.S. Undermining it would place some of the most vulnerable LGBTQ people at greater risk of instability, deportation threats, and discrimination.

Many queer families rely on birthright citizenship to ensure that their children — often born through assisted reproductive technology or surrogacy — are fully recognized as U.S. citizens. Any policy requiring parents to “prove” immigration status opens the door for anti-LGBTQ scrutiny, stereotyping, and harmful bias, particularly against families who already face suspicion or hostility.

This case isn’t just about constitutional interpretation. It’s about whether America will uphold its promise to every child born here — including those born into LGBTQ immigrant families who deserve safety, dignity, and equality.

A developing legal showdown with enormous consequences

With the Supreme Court now preparing to take up the matter, the nation is headed for a historic showdown over citizenship itself. At the center of it all: millions of families who simply want their children’s rights recognized and protected.

As the legal gears begin turning, one thing is already clear — stripping away a constitutional guarantee isn’t just bad policy. It’s an attack on the heart of American identity, and on queer and immigrant communities who have always been part of its fabric.

This story is still developing — and the stakes couldn’t be higher.