Trump’s Citizenship Order Partially Takes Effect; USVI Among Territories Impacted Amid Fears for Immigrants’ U.S.-Born Children
As the Court limits nationwide injunctions, Trump’s birthright order may now be enforced in the USVI, sparking fears for families of H-1B workers, tourists, and undocumented immigrants whose U.S.-born children may lose their citizenship rights.
2025-06-27 15:37:11 - VI News Staff
In a 6-3 ruling on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to partially lift nationwide injunctions blocking President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order on birthright citizenship, allowing its enforcement in 28 states and U.S. territories not covered by ongoing lawsuits.
The decision, which sidesteps the order’s constitutionality, enables the administration to deny automatic U.S. citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants or those on temporary visas in regions outside the 22 plaintiff states and specific advocacy groups’ jurisdictions. Hailed by Trump as a “massive victory” on Truth Social, the ruling has sparked fierce backlash, with critics warning it creates a fractured system of citizenship and violates the 14th Amendment’s long-standing guarantee of birthright citizenship.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA, Inc., issued on the final day of the 2024-2025 term, centers on the scope of nationwide injunctions rather than the merits of the executive order signed on January 20, 2025. The order challenges the 14th Amendment’s clause granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” asserting that children of undocumented immigrants or nonimmigrant visa holders are not entitled to automatic citizenship. Federal district courts in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington issued nationwide injunctions in early 2025, citing the 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark precedent, which affirmed birthright citizenship for nearly all U.S.-born individuals.
In an opinion by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the Court’s conservative majority ruled that the injunctions apply only to the 22 plaintiff states (including New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Washington), Washington, D.C., the city of San Francisco, and advocacy groups like CASA and the ACLU. “The court has made it clear that it is not deciding whether the executive order is constitutional and instructed the district courts to ‘move expeditiously to ensure that, with respect to each plaintiff, the injunctions comport with this rule and otherwise comply with principles,’” Barrett wrote. As a result, the order remains blocked in these jurisdictions, protecting individuals there from its effects, but can now be enforced in the 28 non-plaintiff states and other U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.