A divided Supreme Court ruled that individual judges lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions, but the decision left unclear the fate of President Donald Trump’s restrictions on birthright citizenship.
The court is issuing decisions on the final six cases left on its docket for the summer, including those that are emergency appeals relating to Trump’s agenda.
The outcome was a victory for Trump, who has complained about individual judges throwing up obstacles to his agenda.
But a conservative majority left open the possibility that the birthright citizenship changes could remain blocked nationwide. Trump’s order would deny citizenship to U.S.-born children of people who are in the country illegally.
Birthright citizenship automatically makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally. The right was enshrined soon after the Civil War in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor is reading her dissenting opinion from the bench, a sign of her clear disagreement with the majority’s opinion.
