The Supreme Court on Friday handed a major win to the Trump administration by allowing it for now to take steps to implement its proposal to end automatic birthright citizenship.
In a 6-3 vote, the court granted a request by the Trump administration to narrow the scope of nationwide injunctions imposed by judges so that they apply only to states, groups and individuals that sued.
That means the birthright citizenship proposal can likely move forward at least in part, although the specifics remain to be seen and it could still be blocked by courts on other grounds.
The ruling immediately sparked a response from plaintiffs who have sued to block the executive order, with their lawyers vowing to continue the legal fight. Within hours of the ruling, one group of plaintiffs filed an amended lawsuit and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a new class-action lawsuit.
It has long been widely accepted, including by legal scholars on left and right, that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment confers automatic citizenship to almost anyone born in the United States.
The decision did not touch upon the legal merits of Trump’s plan. But the administration is likely to benefit on multiple fronts as it can now seek to also limit other nationwide injunctions that lower courts have imposed on a range of aggressive executive branch issues including efforts to downsize the federal government.
In remarks to reporters at the White House, Trump called the ruling “an amazing decision, one that we’re very happy about,” adding that the court “delivered a monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers and the rule of law, in striking down the excessive use of nationwide injunctions to interfere with the normal functioning of the executive branch.
Credit: CNBC