The Supreme Court Is Debating Birthright Citizenship — When Will They Make Their Decision?

Within weeks of being inaugurated a second time, President Donald Trump signed a flurry of executive orders with the kind of drama that accompanies a former reality television show host. The president signed executive orders that withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement, pardoned Jan. 6 attackers, and rescinded the 2021 Title IX order, to name a few.

Trump also targeted the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which addresses birthright citizenship. His administration wants to put an end to birthright citizenship in situations where the mother was not a lawful citizen or was in the United States legally but on a temporary basis. This historic move has made its way to the Supreme Court. When will they rule on birthright citizenship? Here's what we know.

According to NPR, a decision on this case is expected to be made by early summer 2025. What many have gotten wrong about this case is what is actually being argued. The Supreme Court is not deciding whether or not to end birthright citizenship, but rather, they are ruling on the "Trump administration’s emergency appeals of lower court orders putting nationwide holds on the Republican president’s push to deny citizenship to children born to people who are in the United States illegally," per PBS.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who is defending the president in this case, argued that there has been a relentless number of injunctions filed against the Trump administration. This, he says, "violates the law as well as long-standing views on a judge’s authority." He went on to say that nationwide injunctions are without limits and can include parties who disagree with what the court opposes.

In response to this, lawyers for the states and immigrants said this particular nationwide injunction is being used because the birthright citizenship executive order violates the Constitution. "Limiting the number of people who are protected by the rulings would create a confusing patchwork of rules in which new restrictions on citizenship could temporarily take effect in 27 states," per PBS.

The Supreme Court was looking at two issues in this case. The New York Times reported that three lower federal judges have previously ruled on Trump's birthright citizenship executive order, deeming it unconstitutional. However, the president's lawyers say this is too much power for federal judges to have, and some members of the Supreme Court are in agreement. Sauer argued that their decisions should be limited to "states, advocacy groups, and individuals that had sued over the order."

"This case is very different from a lot of our nationwide injunction cases in which many of us have expressed frustration at the way district courts are doing their business," said Justice Elena Kagan. If the lower court cases were only applicable to those involved, they would never find their way to the Supreme Court, which is where the issue of their constitutionality is decided.

Regarding birthright citizenship, if the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Trump administration, which would allow them to ignore the injunctions, this could create chaos. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, "Thousands of children who are going to be born without citizenship papers" could be rendered "stateless."