The US Supreme Court's decision to strike down President Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship for babies born to illegal aliens on US soil has sparked intense debate among lawmakers and legal experts.
On Tuesday, the high court ruled in a 5-4 decision, with Chief Justice Roberts writing the majority opinion. According to the ruling, children born in the United States to parents who are unlawfully or temporarily present are "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause.
Conservative Supreme Court Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas were among those who dissented from the ruling, with Justice Thomas writing a blistering dissent. Thomas argued that the Reconstruction amendments after the Civil War, specifically the 14th Amendment, were designed to ensure that the children of black slaves would be given citizenship.
Stephen Miller, a White House advisor, was critical of the Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday evening. Miller stated that the ruling would allow people from around the world to come into the country, have a baby, and then automatically become a citizen. He argued that this would allow individuals who are not loyal to the United States to participate in the country's democratic processes and potentially even hold public office.
"Citizenship means nothing if it is open to everyone," Miller said. "The idea that you can have a cruise ship filled with foreigners and they just dock at a port for an hour and someone has a baby – the baby is an American citizen! They can vote in every election for the rest of their lives. They can be living in a foreign country and cashing welfare checks from American citizens."
Miller also expressed concern that the ruling would lead to the undermining of American civilization, stating, "If your ruling requires you to suicide your civilization, your reading of the Constitution is wrong."
