Las Vegas Review-Journal: ‘Kids born in America are American:’ Nevada officials react to birthright citizenship ruling

Democratic Nevada officials celebrated a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tuesday that affirmed birthright citizenship rights, while President Donald Trump pushed for Congress to instead pass legislation to end the practice.

In a 6-3 vote, the higher court struck down a Trump executive order that called for the end of birthright citizenship for children born to parents unlawfully present in the country.

The order was issued on the first day of Trump’s second term, but never took effect as it was quickly challenged in court by plaintiffs arguing that the policy violated the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

Trump said that the court ruling was bad for the U.S. and urged Congress to settle the issue.

“No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship.”

The White House referred to Trump’s post when asked for additional comment.

Public opinion of birthright citizenship split on partisan lines in a recent Reuters-Ipsos poll, with 72 percent of Democrats polled opposed to ending birthright citizenship while 61 percent of Republicans polled supported ending it. Overall, 55 percent of those polled opposed ending birthright citizenship with 41 percent supporting its elimination.

‘Defending citizenship is about defending the Constitution’

Nevada’s congressional Democrats reacted positively to the ruling.

The rest of the delegation issued statements.

Added Rep. Susie Lee: “Birthright citizenship will continue to be the law of the land. Attacks on our Constitution and country’s foundational principles must end.”

‘No allegiance required’

In overturning Trump’s executive order, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, both conservative, joined the three liberal justices.

While he voted with the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh disagreed that the order violated the 14th Amendment. He pointed to a federal statute that affirms birthright citizenship.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Samuel Alito described the ruling as one of the most important decisions in the court’s history and a serious mistake.

“As interpreted by the Court today, the Fourteenth Amendment confers citizenship on virtually everyone who happens to be born in the country, including the children of ‘birth tourists,’ women who come here solely for the purpose of giving birth to a child and then promptly returning home,” he wrote.

Chuck Muth, a conservative blogger in Nevada, agreed with Alito’s point.

He argued that birthright citizenship of children born to undocumented parents was one of the biggest scams in American immigration policy.

Shortly after the ruling, immigration advocates in Las Vegas held a press conference in which they expressed cautious optimism that the court had shut down one of Trump’s immigration policy proposals.