US Supreme Court blocks Trump's Birthright Citizenship order: What it means for Indians

In a big blow dealt to Donald Trump, the US Supreme Court on Tuesday (30 June) struck down the president's executive order that intended to end birthright citizenship. The decision is also a significant loss for the Republican leader who ran his presidential campaign on ending “birth tourism” and whose second term has been largely defined by its push to crack down on both illegal and legal immigration.

The SCOTUS blow to Donald Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship also brings relief for the Indians who have been residing in the US on H-1B visa.

Birthright citizenship represents a 160 year practice granting citizenship to anyone born on American soil, a principle enshrined within the Constitution through the 14th Amendment.

Let's take a closer look at why the SCOTUS verdict matters.

Setback for Donald Trump

The apex court on Tuesday, 30 June, invalidated Trump's executive order.

Crucially, the court's decision preserves the long-established US constitutional understanding that anyone born on US soil is automatically entitled to citizenship, irrespective of their parents' immigration status.

Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion, which drew support from both conservative and liberal justices on the bench. Three conservative justices, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, dissented from the ruling.

"Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights, to freely participate in our political community," Roberts wrote for the court. "The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today."

Roberts dismantles the domicile argument

One of the central arguments advanced by the Trump administration's legal team was that the 14th Amendment required individuals to be domiciled in the United States, meaning they intended to remain permanently, before their children could be entitled to birthright citizenship. Roberts, writing for the majority, dismissed that argument decisively.

"If Congress intended to hinge citizenship on each individual's domicile, a question that 'is sometimes a matter of great difficulty to decide,' it is reasonable to expect there would have been at least some discussion of the topic," Roberts wrote.

“Yet the word 'domicile' appears just twice in the discussion of the relevant provision of the Civil Rights Act. And it appears in only one speech from the Citizenship Clause debates, as part of an explanation of why state citizenship is distinct from national citizenship under the Constitution.”

Why the Indian diaspora has a stake in this verdict

The United States is currently home to an estimated 5.4 million people of Indian origin, representing roughly 1.6 per cent of the country's overall population, according to available official data.

A considerable proportion of these individuals work in the United States on H-1B visas, particularly within the technology, engineering, healthcare and finance sectors.

Had the administration's executive order survived judicial scrutiny, any alteration to birthright citizenship rules would have directly affected countless families planning to have children while residing in the United States.

Pregnancy and childbirth rights for H-1B workers remain unchanged

There exist no US immigration laws or visa regulations preventing H-1B visa holders, or individuals on other valid temporary visas, from becoming pregnant or giving birth within the United States.

Following the US Supreme Court's ruling, children born to these families on US soil will continue to be recognised as US citizens at birth under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Why US citizenship for a child does not extend to parents

A child born within United States automatically receives US citizenship, but that status does not extend to the child's parents.

Those holding H-1B or other temporary visas must continue to independently maintain their own legal immigration status.

Under existing US immigration law, a US citizen child cannot sponsor a parent for permanent residency until reaching the age of 21.

H-1B visa timeline explained

An H-1B visa remains governed entirely by existing immigration regulations. Once selected through the H-1B lottery and subsequently approved, a worker typically receives a visa valid for up to three years. Employers can generally extend this period for a further three years, bringing the standard maximum stay to six years in total.

Should an individual reach that six year limit without qualifying for additional extensions through a pending employment-based green card application, they are generally required to depart the United States.

After spending one uninterrupted year outside the country, such individuals may become eligible to re-enter the H-1B lottery for a fresh six year cycle.

The dual citizenship dilemma for Indian-origin children

India does not permit full dual citizenship. A child born in the United States to Indian parents acquires US citizenship automatically by birth.

While that child cannot simultaneously hold full Indian citizenship, parents retain the option of applying for an Overseas Citizen of India card, which grants lifelong visa-free travel to India along with broad residency rights.

Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship

Trump's executive order had sought to end automatic US citizenship for children born to parents residing in the United States illegally or on temporary visas, including H-1B workers.

Lower federal courts had already blocked the order prior to the Supreme Court's involvement, ruling that it conflicted with the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.