Birthright citizenship ruling: Wisconsin's stance upheld by Supreme Court
Birthright citizenship ruling: Wisconsin's stance upheld by Supreme Court
Wisconsin was among 24 states opposing the Trump administration as the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Tuesday to uphold birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children nationwide.
MILWAUKEE - The birthright citizenship standard dates back to 1898, and the U.S. Supreme Court decided Tuesday, June 30, that it will stay that way.
What we know:
The court struck down President Trump's executive order, which tried ending birthright citizenship, in the Tuesday ruling.
The 6-3 decision includes support from both liberal and conservative justices. It guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., whether their parents are citizens or here temporarily. Now, Republicans are already looking toward a backup plan.
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Just hours into his second term, the president's signature set the tone.
"We are the only country in the world that does this with birthright as we know," said President Trump during a signing ceremony in his first night in office.
But the president's executive order never took effect.
The ACLU sued to block it. A federal court in New Hampshire did just that. Then, the Trump administration petitioned the case be fast-tracked to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court accepted the case in December and heard arguments in April.
The case centered on the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to children born in the U.S. The president's order aimed to prevent children born to mothers who aren't citizens or who are here on a temporary basis from automatic citizenship.
What they're saying:
Rick Esenberg is president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
"Is it just that you have to be here, or is it you have to somehow have a deeper connection with the United States because you've chosen to live here, and you've done it in a way which is legal? The first set of arguments prevailed," Esenberg said.
Five of the six justices in the majority agreed the executive order was unconstitutional. Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the outcome, but not the reasoning, in a separate opinion.
Chief Justice John Roberts, in the majority opinion, wrote: "The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to "every freeborn person in this land." ... We keep that promise today."
Wisconsin was among 24 states to join the lawsuit against the Trump administration. Attorney General Josh Kaul called it a win for the rule of law in an appearance on the Wisconsin Live Desk Tuesday.
"This is an important win not only in and of itself, but because it stops us from continuing down this path of changing fundamentally what it means to be a citizen in the United States of America," Kaul said.
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The latest available data from Pew Research Center for 2023 found that 9 percent of babies born that year were born to mothers who aren't citizens or are in the country temporarily. That came out to 320,000 babies. Data for Wisconsin was not immediately available.
Dig deeper:
Tonight, President Trump is already calling on Congress to end birthright citizenship through legislation.
In a statement on Facebook, Congressman Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.) said he agreed with the president.
"Today’s Supreme Court opinion on birthright citizenship is adverse to the intent of Congress in drafting the Fourteenth Amendment. As my colleagues and I argued in an Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court, the Constitution never granted, and Congress never authorized, citizenship to the children of aliens unlawfully present in the United States. President Trump is right on this issue: birthright citizenship has been misinterpreted and abused for far too long. Congress should use this opportunity to clarify, once and for all, that citizenship should only be granted to those legally present in our country," Fitzgerald wrote.
Experts said codifying it would have to be a constitutional amendment, which requires a three-quarters vote to pass. Congress last ratified an amendment in 1992, but it was originally proposed in 1789.
Editor's note: Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Sam Kraemer and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from President Trump, the ACLU, a federal court in New Hampshire, the U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Rick Esenberg, Attorney General Josh Kaul and Pew Research Center.