With a 6-3 ruling on Friday, the Supreme Court handed the birthright citizenship issue to the lower courts, but decided to block federal judges from granting nationwide injunctions against Donald Trump’s policies. Trump, who has been challenged by the courts while aiming to expand his executive power, is feeling relieved after the latest ruling, the Associated Press reported. However, he still faces a significant challenge in his effort to take away birthright citizenship from U.S.-born children who are in the country without documents.
What are Democrats and Republicans saying about the Supreme Court’s decision to limit nationwide injunctions on birthright citizenship?
Trump praised the Supreme Court’s latest ruling when he spoke to the media in the White House briefing room on Friday. The President said the decision is a “monumental victory for the Constitution.”
“I was elected on a historic mandate,” Trump told reporters, per ABC News. “In recent months we’ve seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the President to stop the American people from getting the policies that they’ve voted for in record numbers. It was a grave threat to democracy.”
However, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York fears that the Constitution is in danger after Friday’s decision. Schumer expressed his thoughts on X, saying the decision presents “an unprecedented and terrifying step toward authoritarianism, a grave danger to our democracy, and a predictable move from this extremist MAGA court.”
The Supreme Court’s decision to limit courts of their long-held authority to block illegal executive actions is an unprecedented and terrifying step toward authoritarianism, a grave danger to our democracy, and a predictable move from this extremist MAGA court.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) June 27, 2025
By weakening the… https://t.co/CYHUc23yq0
Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the decision “nothing less than an open invitation for the government to bypass the Constitution.” According to the Associated Press, Sotomayor said the Supreme Court’s ruling makes it possible for the Trump administration to enforce a law even when the lower court determines that their policy is unconstitutional.
What did Trump say about birthright citizenship?
District court judges have maintained so far that the removal of birthright citizenship would violate the 14th Amendment. However, the Trump administration continues to argue that birthright citizenship enables illegal immigration.
“They used birthright citizenship, some of the worst people, some of the cartels, to get people into our country,” Trump said at Friday’s press briefing, per ABC News.
In his post on X, Schumer slammed the court for failing to clearly speak out against Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship.
“His plan to end birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional, but instead of stopping it in its tracks, the Court has instead ducked the question and bowed to an out-of-control Executive Branch,” Schumer said.
