Supreme Court ruling boosts Trump’s power, leaving birthright citizenship in doubt and fear
On very few occasions in the long history of a free America could the presidency have come so close to resembling an autocracy with a supreme leader in place rather than a President who is subject to the American Constitution and any measures the legislature could pass and any judgments that the top court could deliver.
A divided (6-3) US Supreme Court ruled that individual judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions, but the decision may have left unclear the fate of President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship. The outcome is, however, being considered a major victory for the Republican President, who had been complaining bitterly about individual judges throwing up obstacles to his agenda.
The court’s ruling leaves the long cherished American law of birthright citizenship in limbo even as pregnant women are in agony over the possible ‘stateless’ status of their to-be born children. While legal rulings may throw some clarity soon on the confusion created over birthright citizenship, there is still no relief from fear for many migrants who may be in the US legally.
The Trump administration’s action against migrants has been so bizarre as to make the US a far less desirable destination than it has been in the eyes of migrants, and visitors, too, for 100 years and more. Armed with legal orders allowing the deportation of certain migrants to countries other than their homeland, the administration has been running ducks and drakes on the issue of migrants, all because tackling illegal migration was one of Trump’s pre-poll promises.
One of the dissenting judges sees an existential threat to the rule of law and room for violating the Constitution by executive lawlessness. But this is Trumpian America, which is now showing a desire to remain a constitutional republic. His executive order seeks to end birthright citizenship though the court ruling does not settle the issue of whether he can enforce the order right now.
Given Trump’s track record, the niceties may not bother the administration. That is why the anxieties of pregnant mothers are running high. And those with green cards and legal work visas are also on tenterhooks because nothing is a guarantee that cannot be flouted by agents working for the government. As Trump is wont to say, God bless America.
