On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order 14160, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The Trump Administration stated in the executive order that children born in the U.S. to parents who entered illegally or held temporary visas would not qualify for automatic citizenship under the 14th Amendment.
The result of that executive order has been six months of confusion — for mixed status families, for people on temporary visas, and for the courts themselves.
A couple weeks ago we published a blog post discussing the July-issued Supreme Court ruling, in which it was anticipated a decision would be announced regarding birthright citizenship. Rather than the Supreme Court ruling on whether the executive order was legal, the Supreme Court ruled that federal judges don’t have the authority to issue nationwide (universal) injunctions—only to the extent needed for the specific plaintiffs suing.
After that ruling, the lower courts had to reconsider the nationwide blocks. In these last few weeks federal lower courts across the country have stalled the Trump Administration’s effort to end birthright citizenship, via a class-action lawsuit, allowing a nationwide injunction, and by concluding that “Trump’s order is unconstitutional and contrary to a federal statute.”
As the Supreme Court sent the issue back down to the lower courts, every lower court to hear a case on the new birthright policy has found Trump’s executive order on it unconstitutional.
There is no doubt that the current administration will continue its efforts to end birthright citizenship. Even as the lower courts have continued to rule it unconstitutional, USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) released an Implementation Plan just a few days ago, explaining who will not be subject to citizenship at birth should Trump’s executive order be permitted to go into effect. According to the plan, birthright citizenship would be limited to children with at least one parent who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident. It would exclude children whose parents are unlawfully present or in the US on a temporary status, such as TPS or student visas.
We know this does not answer any of the questions you have about this situation, but we will continue to keep you informed as these cases progress.
If you need assistance filing for an immigration petition, you can reach us at (757) 422-8472, or send us a message on our website. You can also schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys by clicking on this link.
