Supreme Court to hear arguments over Trump’s birthright citizenship order

Whether President Donald Trump can deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the U.S. illegally will be up for debate in Supreme Court this week. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Wednesday over the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship, which he signed on Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of his second term. The justices will hear Trump’s appeal of a lower-court ruling that struck down the citizenship restrictions, none of which have not taken effect anywhere in the country. Caitlin Patler, associate professor of public policy at the University of California-Berkeley, is the lead author of an amicus brief co-signed by 140 scholars and submitted to the Supreme Court. She presented estimates of the impacted population of children, projected financial contributions through 2074 under the status quo birthright citizenship, and a summary of research on the benefits of citizenship and the harms of revoking birthright citizenship.