FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, June 27, 2025
Contact: press@apiavote.org
WASHINGTON, DC – The Supreme Court has ruled to allow President Trump to continue the process to end birthright citizenship in some parts of the country, even as legal challenges to the constitutionality of the effort proceed. Earlier this year, Trump issued an executive order (EO) that would end birthright citizenship – but the EO was challenged and temporarily halted by lower courts. To be clear, the Supreme Court did not rule on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship itself, but ended the ability of individual federal judges to freeze policies across the country, a tool that has been used to block controversial policies instituted by both Democratic and Republican presidents. In effect, after 30 days, this means the executive order will go into effect in the 28 states that have not challenged the measure. It is unclear how the policy will be implemented in the real world. It also means future controversial actions taken by any president will likely have one less tool to put a check on any administration.
Trump’s executive order (EO) aimed at ending birthright citizenship attempts to unilaterally change the 14th Amendment—something that can only be changed through a constitutional amendment. While the president’s campaign focused on whether children of undocumented immigrants should receive citizenship if born in the U.S., the EO goes much further. It seeks to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. whose parents hold legal, non-permanent statuses such as H-1B visas or Temporary Protected Status, unless a parent is a green card holder or US citizen. This sweeping change would erode a foundational principle of American identity and have serious consequences for all immigrant communities, including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).
“Birthright citizenship has been established for 127 years, since the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that all those born on US soil are American – no ands, ifs, or buts,” said Christine Chen, Executive Director of APIAVote. “Attempts to undermine this principle is not just a legal challenge — it’s a fundamental threat to the constitutional promise of equality and inclusion at the heart of the American identity.
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About APIAVote: Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) is the nation’s leading nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to engaging, educating, and empowering Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities to strengthen and sustain a culture of civic engagement. See our website for more information at https://www.apiavote.org/