The Memo: MAGA winces as Supreme Court quashes anti-birthright citizenship push

The Supreme Court blunted the Trump administration’s offensive on immigration on Tuesday with a ruling affirming that almost everyone born in the United States is an American citizen.

The ruling, underscoring the concept known as “birthright citizenship,” was a major defeat for a president who has sought not only to curb numbers on illegal immigration but to fundamentally reshape the political landscape on the issue.

That effort has encompassed everything from the “build the wall” chants that marked his first campaign for the presidency to the hyper-controversial raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that have been seen in his second term. 

President Trump has succeeded in reducing unauthorized migration at the southwestern border from a flood to a trickle. But ICE’s actions in the nation’s interior have proved far more controversial. 

In the polling averages maintained by RealClearPolitics, a majority of the public now disapproves of Trump’s actions on immigration, 51 percent to 45 percent. Immigration had generally been his strongest issue during the 2024 election campaign against then-Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Of course, there are other arrows in Trump’s quiver regarding immigration and some of them have fared better before the courts. Trump has set the lowest refugee cap in history and at one point sought to ramp up efforts to turn back asylum-seekers.

The asylum-seeker measure got the assent of the Supreme Court last week. 

But the defeat on birthright citizenship will carry a particular sting, given Trump’s intense and sustained criticism of the concept. 

“Birthright Citizenship was not meant for people taking vacations to become permanent Citizens of the United States of America, and bringing their families with them, all the time........

© The Hill