Justices to Decide Birthright Citizenship

The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to take up the constitutionality of President Trump's order on birthright citizenship declaring that children born to parents who are in the US illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. The justices will hear Trump's appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down his citizenship restrictions. They have not taken effect anywhere in the country, the AP reports. The case is scheduled to be argued in the spring, with a definitive ruling expected by early summer. Birthright citizenship is the first of Trump's immigration-related policies to reach the court for a final ruling. The situation:

• President's policies: The birthright citizenship order, which Trump signed on the first day of his second term, is part of the Republican administration's sweeping actions on immigration. Other steps include immigration enforcement surges in several cities and the first peacetime invocation of the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act.
• In the courts: The administration is facing multiple court challenges, and the high court has sent mixed signals in its emergency orders. The justices effectively stopped the use of the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport people accused of being Venezuelan gang members without court hearings. But the Supreme Court allowed the resumption of immigration stops in the Los Angeles area after a lower court blocked the practice of stopping people solely based on their race, language, job, or location. The justices also are weighing the administration's emergency appeal to be allowed to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area for immigration enforcement actions. A lower court has indefinitely prevented the deployment.

• Constitutional case: Trump's order would upend more than 125 years of understanding that the Constitution's 14th Amendment confers citizenship on everyone born on American soil, with narrow exceptions for the children of foreign diplomats and those born to a foreign occupying force. In every case taken up by a lower court, the finding was that the order violates or likely violates the 14th Amendment. Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the US an American citizen, including children born to mothers who are in the country illegally. The 14th Amendment was intended to ensure that Black people, including former slaves, had citizenship.