US Supreme Court deals blow to Trump’s birthright citizenship policy. The decision is a big relief for the children of Indian families with H-1B visa, the right to citizenship remains intact.
Washington: The biggest legal battle ever going on between the White House and the US Judiciary has come to an end. The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a historic decision that has demolished President Donald Trump’s most ambitious ‘anti-immigration agenda’. The Supreme Court has completely rejected Trump’s controversial executive order, through which he wanted to abolish ‘Birthright Citizenship’ in America. Under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts, the court made it clear that every child born on American soil is an American citizen by birth. With this decision, lakhs of Indian origin families living in America have heaved a sigh of relief, on whom the sword of deportation and snatching of citizenship was hanging.
Maze of ‘Jus Soli’: Chief Justice’s comment that made Trump’s plan fail
The biggest suspense in this entire matter was whether the Supreme Court would give a new interpretation of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution? The Trump administration argued that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” excludes children whose parents are on temporary visas or living there illegally. But Chief Justice John Roberts, writing the majority opinion, rejected this argument outright.
The decision of 1898 again became the basis, what is Wong Kim Ark case?
The Supreme Court in its decision United States v. Also cited Wong Kim Ark. In this historic case, the court had ruled that children born in America, regardless of which country their parents are citizens of, are entitled to American citizenship. This decision has remained the constitutional basis of birthright citizenship in America for more than a century. In the decision co-written with Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson, Roberts said that children born on American soil are citizens by birth. The court upheld the precedent of the landmark 1898 case ‘United States v. Wong Kim Ark’, which has stood firm for more than a century.
Dangerous backlog of Green Card: Why was this a question of life and death for Indians?
The data presented in court by the South Asian American Justice Collaborative (SAAJCO) exposed the real fear behind this case. Out of 48 lakh Indian-Americans living in America, about 16 lakh people have become American citizens by right of birth. But the most frightening reality is the study by Cato Institute, which states that Indians alone account for 63% of America’s employment-based green card backlog (pending applications).
As of November 2023, more than 12 lakh Indians were waiting for green cards in the EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3 categories. If the law is not changed, this figure will cross 22 lakh by 2030. In such a situation, Trump’s order was like a nightmare for Indian parents who waited for decades on temporary status like H-1B visa. If this order had been implemented, their children born in America would have been stripped of their citizenship. This decision of the Supreme Court has given a huge security guarantee to these families.
What is Birthright Citizenship and why is there controversy?
Birthright citizenship means that a person gets the citizenship of the country where he is born. It is also called the Latin word Jus Soli i.e. “right to the soil”. In America, this right is linked to the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which was implemented after the Civil War to protect civil rights. The Trump administration argued that this rule should not apply to children whose parents are not American citizens. But the Supreme Court did not accept this argument.
Trump’s anger on Truth Social: ‘Congratulations to Xi Jinping’ and new plan
Frustrated by this crushing defeat, President Trump, as usual, took the help of social media. He called the decision “costly and bad policy” on Truth Social. Interestingly, after this decision, Trump sarcastically congratulated Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was a direct indication that he was considering this decision as a diplomatic victory for China. However, Trump did not stop here, he has demanded immediate action from Congress (US Parliament). Trump wrote: “The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is very bad for our country. But we can easily end it by passing a law in Congress. This does not require a long constitutional amendment! Congress should start working on this today, they will have my full support.”
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Will the decision be reversed in Parliament? The world’s eyes are now on Washington
This decision of the Supreme Court has secured the future of millions of immigrants and children of Indian tech-workers for the time being, but this new threat by Trump has created a new suspense. Will Trump be able to get any law passed in the US Congress with presidential support that can bypass the 14th Amendment? Legal experts believe that the Constitution cannot be changed by ordinary law, but considering Trump’s stubborn stance, a new political conflict is sure to arise in the American immigration policy in the coming days.