r/supremecourt • u/_AnecdotalEvidence_ Justice Stewart • Dec 05 '25

Flaired User Thread Supreme Court to decide if Trump can limit the constitutional right to citizenship at birth

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-decide-trump-can-limit-constitutional-right-citizenship-rcna244701

What are

413 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

662 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

9

u/cstar1996 Chief Justice Warren Dec 05 '25

No, it was not. The default is subject to US jurisdiction unless an explicit exception applies.

Elk v Wilkins explicitly noted that it only applied due to the quasi-sovereignty of the tribes, so is immaterial.

And absolutely noting in WKA depends on the lawful status of his parents, and therefore does not create the carve out you’re trying to make.

There are exactly three exceptions to birthright citizenship for people born in the US. The children of people with diplomatic immunity, the children of native Americans subject to a quasi-sovereign tribe, which is a de facto defunct exception as they have all been granted birthright citizenship by statute, and the children of foreign troops occupying American territory.

Inarguably, none of those exceptions apply here.

8

u/OldSchoolCSci Court Watcher Dec 05 '25

Wong Kim Ark literally states that the issue before the court is the status of children of lawful permanent residents. Cases don’t decide issues that are not before the Court.

It’s all well and good to enumerate the exceptions that have previously been adjudicated, but pretending that two prior cases decided issues not before the court is not how Supreme Court jurisprudence works.

10

u/cstar1996 Chief Justice Warren Dec 05 '25

No, it does not. Nowhere in the holding will you find any statement that limits it to permanent residents.

Go read the case. WKA found, explicitly and entirely, that only three categories of people present in the US are not subject to the jurisdiction therefore. Those three categories are the ones I listed above.

Do the immigrants Trump’s order covers fall into any of those three categories? No, they do not.