California legislators celebrate Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship decision
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- Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship in a 6-3 decision Tuesday.
- California legislators celebrated after the Court struck down the executive order.
- California legislators, including AG Rob Bonta, celebrated and criticized the action.
The Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship in a 6-3 decision Tuesday, affirming that nearly all children born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens.
California Democratic legislators reacted to the decision with a mix of relief and triumph, celebrating that President Donald Trump’s executive order challenging birthright citizenship had been struck down nearly a year and a half after its signing.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and the Court’s three liberal justices three liberal justices — Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — struck down the executive order on constitutional grounds. Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the majority in support of birthright citizenship, but issued a concurring opinion based on federal law.
“Today’s decision affirms a foundational tenet of American democracy: that every child born in this country, no matter their background, is equal under the law and can pursue the American Dream,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement. “It’s unconscionable that just hours after swearing to uphold the Constitution, President Trump attempted to rewrite history and the clear text of the 14th Amendment with an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.”
Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 executive order states that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which affirms that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” does not apply to children of unlawful or lawful but temporary immigrants to the U.S.
Bonta co-led a multistate coalition to file a lawsuit challenging the executive order on Jan. 21, 2025. Since then, the coalition obtained a series of nationwide preliminary injunctions that prevented the order from ever taking effect.
Other legislators celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision, but said their opposition to the Trump administration’s policies is ongoing. In an X post Tuesday morning, California Governor Gavin Newsom urged continued efforts to push back against Trump administration laws.
“The Constitution barely survived today,” the post reads. “We’re hanging on by a thread. The fight to defend our democracy is far from over.”
Similarly, Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said in a statement that “while we celebrate this ruling today, we cannot rest. Because this is certainly not the end of Trump’s attacks on our Constitution, our democracy, and the notion of what it means to be American.”
“While there is nothing surprising about Donald Trump’s efforts to erode birthright citizenship and disregard laws he doesn’t like, today’s decision reaffirms over a century of legal precedent protecting this fundamental constitutional right,” the statement reads.