Supreme Court ruling would allow president to restrict birthright citizenship in some states

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a ruling limiting the authority of federal judges to block the president’s executive orders nationwide, a decision that would allow the president to restrict the right to  citizenship by birth, though for now only in some states. 

The decision of the court, with a conservative majority, came in the framework of a legal battle over an executive order by President Donald Trump issued in January, which seeks to eliminate automatic citizenship for U.S. born children of undocumented immigrants or people with temporary status. 

That order was blocked by three federal judges as unconstitutional, but the Trump administration appealed those decisions arguing that the courts do not have the authority to issue nationwide injunctions, an argument that was admitted today by the Supreme Court.

“When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too,” Supreme Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the 6-3 ruling.

The decision indicates that lower court judges in three states exceeded their authority by issuing orders that impact the entire population of the country rather than only affecting the parties involved in the litigation.

The Supreme Court’s ruling sends the lawsuits back to lower courts in Washington, Maryland and Massachusetts and gives federal judges 30 days to narrow the scope of their injunctions.

IMPACT IN NORTH CAROLINA

Nineteen other states with Democratic governments, including North Carolina, also joined the lawsuits against the executive order, so it would not go into effect in those states after the deadline set by the Supreme Court.

“Because we took action to defend the Constitution, North Carolinians still retain their right to full citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment,” Jeff Jackson, North Carolina’s attorney general, said in a statement. “While this case has been sent back to a lower court for review, our position remains unchanged. The text of the Fourteenth Amendment is clear, and we will defend it.”

The application of the presidential order on birth citizenship in the other 28 states of the country is still uncertain because according to the Supreme Court ruling, in the next 30 days new lawsuits against that measure can continue to be admitted. 

After the Supreme Court’s decision, President Trump called it a “monumental victory for the Constitution, the separation of powers and the rule of law.” 

The decision expands the president’s power by limiting the authority of federal courts to stop his executive orders, as has happened with 40 of them since he took office on January 20.