Trump asks Supreme Court to allow birthright citizenship restrictions

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow restrictions on birthright citizenship to partly take effect while legal fights play out.

In emergency applications filed at the high court on Thursday, the administration asked the justices to narrow court orders entered by district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington that blocked the order President Donald Trump signed shortly after beginning his second term.

Three federal appeals courts have rejected the administration's pleas.

Trump asks Supreme Court to review ban on birthright citizenship

Roughly two dozen states have sued over the executive order, which they say violates the Constitution’s 14th Amendment promise of citizenship to anyone born inside the United States.

The Justice Department argues that individual judges lack the power to give nationwide effect to their rulings.

Five conservative justices, a majority of the court, have raised concerns in the past about nationwide, or universal, injunctions.

EARLIER: Trump executive action attempts to end birthright citizenship

To date, the court has never ruled on the matter.

The Department of Justice, for its part, has sought to characterize the order as an "integral part of President Trump’s broader effort to repair the United States’ immigration system, and to address the ongoing crisis at the southern border."

What is birthright citizenship?

Dig deeper:

The order would deny citizenship to those born after Feb. 19 whose parents are in the country illegally. It also forbids U.S. agencies from issuing any document or accepting any state document recognizing citizenship for such children.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Congress ratified the 14th Amendment in July 1868. That amendment assured citizenship for all, including Black people. 

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside," the 14th Amendment says. "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." 

But the 14th Amendment didn’t always translate to everyone being afforded birthright citizenship. For example, it wasn’t until 1924 that Congress finally granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S.

The other side:

Granting birthright citizenship is not the practice of every country, and Trump and his supporters have argued that the system is being abused and that there should be tougher standards for becoming an American citizen. 

Some proponents of immigration restrictions have argued the words "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" in the 14th Amendment allows the U.S. to deny citizenship to babies born to those in the country illegally. Trump himself used that language in his 2023 announcement that he would aim to end birthright citizenship if reelected.

Trump signs executive order to end birthright citizenship

The backstory:

President Donald Trump signed an executive order hoping to end birthright citizenship, one of several executive actions signed in the hours after he was sworn into office. 

Trump said he favored legal immigration as he signed orders declaring a national emergency on the U.S. border with Mexico, suspending refugee resettlement and ending automatic citizenship for anyone born in the United States.

What they're saying:

Trump acknowledged an imminent legal challenge to overturning birthright citizenship and said automatic citizenship was "just ridiculous." He added that he believed he was on "good (legal) ground" to change it.

"That’s a big one," he bantered with reporters while signing an order declaring the border emergency.

This is a developing story. Check back for more updates.