Are you confused by recent news headlines about birthright citizenship?

If so, you’re not alone. 

A recent Supreme Court ruling has been anticipated for months, with many people believing that it would determine what immigration status newborn babies of nonimmigrant and undocumented mothers receive upon birth. 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 14th Amendment states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” For over a century the 14th Amendment has been interpreted to apply the concept of Jus Soli – birthplace citizenship – to anyone born in the United States, unless their parents were diplomats. This interpretation is based on the 1898 Supreme Court ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark which established the explicit precedent that anyone born in the United States, regardless of their parent’s immigration status, is a citizen at birth.

Because of this very explicit Supreme Court ruling from 1898, most legal experts have been very confused why the Trump administration is trying to create a new interpretation of a Constitutional law that the Supreme Court has already defined. Nevertheless, the Trump administration is adamantly arguing that those born here are not automatically U.S. citizens unless one of their parents has permanent immigration status. 

In response to President Trump’s executive order, multiple federal courts issued universal injunctions – protecting anyone affected anywhere in the country from the Executive Order. An injunction is a court order that tells someone to stop doing something or to do something. For example, if the government tries to enforce a new rule, a judge can issue an injunction to temporarily block it until the court decides if it’s legal.

These injunctions were then brought to the Supreme Court, and here is where the confusion lies. 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. Broader blocks are likely beyond what federal courts are allowed to do under law. This essentially means that only those plaintiffs who were named as part of the specific lawsuits (mostly pregnant moms) are protected under the injunctions, not the broader public. 

So what does that mean practically? 

The lower courts must reconsider those nationwide blocks and likely issue narrow injunctions covering only the plaintiffs in each case. To protect more people, groups can pursue class-action lawsuits, and then a judge could issue an injunction that covers everyone in that class. 

• The executive order is still on hold for now. The 30-day pause gives courts time to adjust. Meanwhile, challenges to the order’s merits (whether it’s constitutional) are still pending.

Although different news organizations may be headlining this ruling in contrasting ways, this ruling is primarily a procedural victory for the administration—it doesn’t change whether birthright citizenship is legal under the 14th Amendment. Trump’s Executive Order is still on hold for now. There is a temporary block of it for 30 days, so it can’t be implemented while lower courts reassess their own rulings with these new limits in mind. But the ruling limits how powerful federal injunctions can be: no more nationwide bans from a single judge, which have been utilized a lot increasingly since Trump took office.

As for children of undocumented immigrants or temporary visa holders about to be born in the U.S., only time will tell what immigration status they hold. 

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.