Some lawmakers expressed interest in changing citizenship rules.
President Donald Trump on June 30 called on Congress to pass legislation that would restrict birthright citizenship in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling that struck down an executive order Trump issued on the matter.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the order from Trump, which barred children born to illegal immigrants in the United States from receiving citizenship, ran counter to the U.S. Constitution.
Justice John Roberts, who authored the majority opinion, said that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment covers even children birthed by illegal immigrants, citing English legal doctrine that generally treats any person born in a country as a citizen of that country.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that the decision was “too bad” but that “we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation.”
He said that an amendment to the Constitution was not necessary.
“Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship,” the president said. “They will have my Complete and Total Support!”
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said he was filing legislation that would restrict birthright citizenship to people who are legally in the country.
Schmitt pointed to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s partial concurrence and partial dissent, in which Kavanaugh said that Trump’s order does not violate the Constitution but does contravene federal law.
“Congress could—consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment—amend [the law] or otherwise enact new legislation establishing exceptions to birthright citizenship for children born to foreign citizens unlawfully or temporarily in the country,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.) also expressed support for legislation that would address the matter.
“President Trump is right on this issue: birthright citizenship has been misinterpreted and abused for far too long,” Fitzgerald wrote on X. “Congress should use this opportunity to clarify, once and for all, that citizenship should only be granted to those legally present in our country.”
Other lawmakers said that a constitutional amendment might be the way to change the rules around birthright citizenship.
“This decision confirms what I already suspected,” Rep. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on X. “If we want real, lasting change, it has to come through the amendment process.”
