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In a consequential decision on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that federal judges do not have the authority to issue nationwide injunctions, a move that directly impacts how courts can block policies such as President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship.
While the 6–3 ruling, authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is a major win for Trump’s legal strategy, it stopped short of reinstating the contested birthright citizenship order, instead sending the case back to lower courts to determine how to narrowly tailor their rulings going forward.
“This is a monumental victory for our Constitution and our Republic,” Trump declared in a post on Truth Social. “We will promptly move to reinstate policies that were wrongfully blocked, including on birthright citizenship.”
What the Ruling Means
The decision centered not on birthright citizenship itself, but on the broader question of whether single judges can block federal policies nationwide. The court sided with both the Trump and Biden administrations, which have argued that judges should only apply rulings to the parties involved in a given lawsuit — not to the entire country.
“Deciding whether to permit private enforcement poses delicate policy questions involving competing costs and benefits — decisions for elected representatives, not judges,” wrote Barrett.
Lower courts will now have to revise their injunctions, ensuring that they don’t apply more broadly than necessary. The implications could limit the speed and scope of legal challenges to future presidential actions.
Uncertainty Remains on Birthright Citizenship Policy
The court did not lift the block on Trump’s executive order denying U.S. citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to undocumented parents. This leaves the long-established understanding of the 14th Amendment untouched — for now.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are citizens, provided they are “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” That clause has long been interpreted to guarantee birthright citizenship, a principle upheld in the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
Justice Barrett acknowledged that lower courts still have discretion to tailor relief that can, in effect, block enforcement more broadly, depending on the situation.
Sotomayor Sounds the Alarm in Dissent
In a forceful dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, warned that the ruling invites executive overreach and leaves constitutional protections vulnerable.
“The court’s decision is nothing less than an open invitation for the government to bypass the Constitution,” she wrote. “It will strip those impacted of a deeply personal freedom — the ability to seek relief when their rights are violated.”
Sotomayor emphasized that the Trump administration’s arguments threaten to unravel more than just immigration norms — they risk weakening the court’s role in checking executive power.
What Comes Next?
Now that the Supreme Court has ruled on the scope of judicial authority, the fate of Trump’s birthright citizenship order rests with the district and circuit courts reviewing it. They will need to rework their injunctions to comply with the high court’s guidance, while still addressing the constitutional claims raised.
“This is far from over,” said Nina Perales, a civil rights attorney involved in the litigation. “The courts may no longer issue nationwide injunctions, but they still have the power to declare this policy unconstitutional.”
For now, birthright citizenship remains intact, and legal challenges continue in 22 states, while a separate case in New Hampshire remains unaffected.
Political and Legal Fallout
The ruling bolsters Trump’s claims of judicial interference with his agenda, and it may embolden him to pursue other controversial executive actions. However, it also injects greater complexity into how courts balance individual cases with national implications, especially on hot-button issues like immigration and civil rights.
In practical terms, the fight over birthright citizenship is far from resolved. But the Supreme Court has reshaped the battlefield, limiting the tools available to opponents of Trump’s policies while leaving the legal foundation of citizenship untouched — for now.
