Majority ruling reaffirms the 14th Amendment but leaves room for future legal battles
On the cusp of the United States touching the historic milestone of 250 years of independence, one of its foundational principles was upheld by the Supreme Court’s majority ruling on the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.
The nation founded with a belief in equality, fraternity and liberty that was built by immigrants from across the Atlantic Ocean to become a country of opportunity which the rest of the world looks up to saw a man rise who signed an executive order on the first day of his second term in the President’s office to deny automatic citizenship to children born of undocumented immigrants and temporary foreign residents.
The 6-3 judgment reaffirms a centuries-old understanding of automatic citizenship based on the 14th Amendment, but a door was left open for Donald Trump who could remain obstinate with his anti-immigration agenda that helped him come back to power.
Congress could amend or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the US, according to judge Brett Kavanaugh, one of the Conservatives on the bench who signed the majority judgment, but based only on his view on a violation of immigration statutes dating to 1940 and 1952.
While there is no arguing against the country wanting to deny citizenship to children of illegally resident immigrants or ‘birth tourists’ who go to the US with the specific intention of having a child there, Mr Trump’s agenda, made so explicit by his attending some of the oral arguments in the case, was at its root anti-immigrant. And racist too as Mr Trump had attacked the American citizenship of both former President Barack Obama and presidential aspirant Ms Kamala Harris who stood against him.
Opponents of a discriminatory attitude were extremely happy that the decision reaffirms an early American promise. They see it as a simple principle of “If you are born here, you are a citizen”. Much more drama will doubtless ensue, but right now there is at least one verdict which the US Supreme Court, on the last day of its sitting, delivered against Mr Trump while he could claim victory in many other cases that tended to uphold various things he could do as President of a 250-year-old democracy.
