UNIPA News(01 July)New York-The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship, ruling that the measure violated the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment, while also allowing states to ban transgender student athletes from competing on women’s sports teams and striking down federal limits on coordinated campaign spending.
The birthright citizenship decision marked a significant legal setback for Trump on the final day of the court’s term. In a 6-3 ruling written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court held that the Constitution guarantees citizenship to virtually anyone born on US soil, with limited exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats or members of an occupying enemy force.
Trump’s executive order, signed on his first day back in office, directed federal agencies to deny citizenship to children born in the United States if neither parent was a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. Legal experts had warned that the policy could have affected the status of as many as 250,000 newborns annually and created new documentation requirements for millions of families.
Writing for the majority, Roberts said the authors of the 14th Amendment intended to guarantee citizenship to every free-born person in the United States following the Civil War.
“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community,” Roberts wrote, adding, “We keep that promise today.”
Following the ruling, Trump criticised the decision on his Truth Social platform, describing it as “too bad for our Country” and urging Congress to pursue legislation ending birthright citizenship.
In another closely watched case, the Supreme Court upheld laws in West Virginia and Idaho that restrict participation in women’s and girls’ sports to biological females. The justices unanimously ruled that the state laws do not violate Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education. By a 6-3 vote, the court also found that the measures do not violate the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said states are permitted to determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex.
The ruling represents the court’s second major decision against transgender plaintiffs within a year, following its 2025 decision allowing states to prohibit gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors.
The court also struck down federal limits on coordinated campaign spending between political parties and candidates, ruling 6-3 that the restrictions violated First Amendment protections for political speech. The case was brought by Republican challengers, including Vice President JD Vance, as political parties prepare for the November midterm elections.
The Supreme Court’s latest decisions concluded a term marked by several high-profile rulings involving presidential authority, immigration, voting rights, firearms and LGBT-related issues.
Earlier in the term, the court rejected Trump’s global tariff policy introduced under emergency powers. It also expanded presidential authority by allowing Trump to remove a Federal Trade Commission member while declining to immediately permit the dismissal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
The court also upheld the administration’s move to revoke temporary humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants, ruled in Trump’s favour on asylum policy, limited key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, expanded gun rights in multiple cases and struck down a Colorado law banning conversion therapy for LGBT minors.
The justices also agreed to hear several major cases during their next term, beginning in October, including challenges to state-level bans on assault-style rifles.
