Tellingly, the president avoided defending his dubious interpretation of the 14th Amendment at the U.S. Supreme Court.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against „universal injunctions“ last week, President Donald Trump hailed the decision as a „GIANT WIN“ for his administration. Trump added that „the Birthright Citizenship Hoax“—by which he meant the conventional understanding of the 14th Amendment—also had been „hit hard“, albeit „indirectly.“
That take was misleading in two important ways. First, the issue that the Court addressed goes far beyond this particular administration, potentially affecting progressive policies pursued by Democrats as well as conservative policies favored by Republicans. Second, the majority said nothing about the legal merits of Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship by presidential fiat, which remains just as constitutionally dubious as it always was.
In an executive order he issued on his first day in office, Trump purported to exclude children of unauthorized immigrants and temporary legal visitors from U.S. citizenship. From now on, he said, U.S.-born children will qualify for that status only if at least one parent is a citizen or lawful permanent resident.
That decree provoked lawsuits by individuals, organizations, and states, several of which resulted in preliminary injunctions blocking enforcement of the order across the country. The question for the Supreme Court was whether federal courts hearing challenges to executive actions or federal legislation are authorized to issue injunctions that extend beyond the plaintiffs in the cases before them.
