Supreme Court to Review Order Ending Birthright Citizenship

Arguments on whether the Trump administration can enforce the executive order that would end birthright citizenship will be heard by the Supreme Court next month. The court announced Thursday that the pause placed on its enactment by lower courts, which the administration wants lifted or limited, will remain in effect until the hearing on May 15, the New York Times reports. Legal scholars of all stripes have long considered the Constitution's 14th Amendment to confer automatic citizenship on almost anyone born in the US, per NBC News, and court rulings have endorsed that view.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States," according to the amendment. Trump's order would prevent newborns from automatic citizenship if neither parent is a US citizen or legal permanent resident, per the Washington Post. Studies have estimated that would affect 150,000 newborns a year. Lawsuits filed by states, immigrants, and rights groups are fighting the president's change, per the AP. Federal judges brought those cases issued nationwide, temporary injunctions pausing the executive order, with one judge calling Trump's order "clearly unconstitutional." (More birthright citizenship stories.)