by Terri Dee
INDIANAPOLIS (Indiana News Service) - The U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 on Tuesday to strike down President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to remove or limit birthright citizenship.
The ruling concerns children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or who have temporary immigration or visa status. The decision permanently invalidates actions to deny automatic citizenship to newborns based on their parents’ immigration or visa status.
ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk said the decision is clear.
“The 14th Amendment is explicit, saying that all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,” Falk said. “I’m not surprised that the court found, in fact, that the 14th Amendment means what it says.”
Falk said the court’s decision settles the question of who is considered legally a citizen at birth. The ruling recognizes that any person born on American soil is a fully fledged citizen and must be treated as such under federal law.
Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship would have applied to children of people in the United States unlawfully or temporarily, including students and applicants for green cards or permanent resident status.
Falk said six Supreme Court justices voted to adhere to the U.S. Constitution in their 200-page opinion. The Trump administration argued that the policy did not apply to all children born in the United States, and that point resonated with some justices.
“It does not apply to persons who are here unlawfully or temporarily,” Falk said, “and that obviously was a position that gained support, but not with the majority of the court.”
The debate over birthright citizenship in Indiana was resolved at the state level years ago. Children born in Indiana are granted automatic U.S. citizenship, which allows them to apply for state services, attend public schools and exercise their voting rights.