Appeals court rules Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional

The birthright citizenship question is now expected to go back to the Supreme Court, which last month narrowed the scope of prior injunctions against the order.

Published: July 23, 2025 8:42pm

A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump’s order looking to end birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, upholding a lower court's decision that blocks the order nationwide despite a Supreme Court ruling on nationwide injunctions.

The ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agrees with U.S. District Judge Joseph Laplante's ruling, which gave class-action status to babies who would be affected by the order.

“The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,” the court wrote, per the Associated Press.

The birthright citizenship question is now expected to go back to the Supreme Court, which last month narrowed the scope of prior injunctions against the order, finding that lower courts likely lacked the authority to issue sweeping injunctions. 

The Supreme Court in its ruling did not determine whether Trump's birthright citizenship executive order ran afoul of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

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