The United States Supreme Court has rejected US President Donald Trump’s attempt to end the right to automatic citizenship for people born on American soil.
The court’s decision blocked Trump’s executive order, which sought to change a legal principle that has been in place for more than 100 years.
The issue was one of the main points of the president’s immigration agenda, although many lawyers had raised questions about its legal basis, CNN writes.
This decision maintains the current interpretation of the US Constitution, according to which any person born in the United States is automatically considered an American citizen, regardless of whether or not their parents are citizens of the country.
The decision represents a significant political blow to Trump, who during his campaign had promised to end so-called “birth tourism” and had placed immigration restrictions at the center of his policies.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, which included both conservative and liberal members of the court.
Meanwhile, three conservative justices – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch – dissented from the decision.
“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights – to participate freely in our political community,” Roberts wrote, referring to the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to persons born in the U.S.
The Supreme Court’s decision is expected to have a major impact on the ongoing political debate in the US over immigration and constitutional rights. /Telegraph/