RAICES Bulletin: Birthright Citizenship Survives SCOTUS

By RAICES Public Affairs Director Javier Hidalgo, Esq.

TL;DR On June 30, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented or temporary-resident parents. While this is a constitutional victory, additional legal developments and rhetoric from the administration indicate immigrant rights will continue to be attacked.

WHAT TO KNOW

• Issue: On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court issued a notably close 5-4 decision guaranteeing birthright citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented or temporary-resident parents on constitutional grounds. The characterization of a 6-3 ruling encompasses an outlier dissent that would have preserved birthright citizenship on statutory but not constitutional grounds. This ruling blocks one of the administration's most aggressive attacks on immigrant families.     

• Rationale: The majority grounded its decision in the text and history of the Citizenship Clause, confirming it reflects the common law rule granting citizenship by birth on U.S. soil. This applies to all subjects of U.S. jurisdiction, with only narrow historical exceptions like the children of foreign diplomats. The majority explicitly rejected arguments for a "primary" or domicile-based allegiance, finding no historical or textual basis for these qualifiers at the time of ratification.    

• RAICES Impact: Because many RAICES clients are part of mixed-status families with U.S. citizen children, a different outcome would have created a dire set of new legal needs. This constitutional victory fuels our ongoing support for immigrant and refugee families and highlights the necessity for legal aid organizations to remain agile. The administration’s assault on immigrant rights is likely to continue, highlighting the importance of sustained resistance from advocates. 

• Community Impact: This decision provides a welcome but limited stability for mixed-status families. However, the legal landscape remains precarious, and immigrant communities continue to face substantial challenges. Advocates and community members should stay vigilant against potential misapplications of the law and future attempts to strip immigrants of their rights.   

• Related Legal Battles: The dissenting opinions and subsequent executive rhetoric signal an intent by the administration to explore legislative avenues to limit birthright citizenship in the future. Additional statements from government officials signal a likely increase in aggressive enforcement. Any attempts to circumvent this holding are likely to draw further legal challenges.     

• Broader Immigration Strategy: While this victory is appropriately celebrated, advocates should not lose sight of recent harmful Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) and federal court decisions that have dramatically reshaped the legal landscape. The attack on birthright citizenship was a highly visible anti-immigrant effort, but it is far from the only one, requiring continued perseverance from advocates. We should heed Justice Jackson's concurrence, in which she points out how “[President] Lincoln expressly and intentionally linked the fate of Black Americans and immigrant groups…and noted that the Nation’s future hinged on a universal definition of citizenship that excluded neither.”