FILE PHOTO: A regulation enforcement officer stands guard on the day the Supreme Court docket justices hear oral arguments over U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to broadly implement his government order to limit automated birthright citizenship, throughout a protest outdoors the U.S. Supreme Court docket in Washington, D.C., U.S., Might 15, 2025.
REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photograph
Elected officers throughout Queens are talking out in opposition to a current U.S. Supreme Court docket ruling that limits the authority of decrease court docket judges to difficulty nationwide injunctions, significantly in circumstances involving President Donald Trump’s government order in search of to finish birthright citizenship.
In a 6-3 choice break up alongside ideological traces, the Supreme Court docket sided with the Trump administration’s request to curb the facility of federal judges to dam government actions on a nationwide scale.
The court docket didn’t handle whether or not Trump’s government order to finish birthright citizenship is constitutional. Legal professional Normal Pam Bondi confirmed that the Supreme Court docket is anticipated to contemplate that query throughout its subsequent time period, which begins in October.
Decrease courts had beforehand discovered the manager order—geared toward ending automated citizenship for kids born within the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or these on momentary visas—to be unconstitutional.
These rulings drew sharp criticism from the Trump administration, with the previous president accusing “radical left judges” of trying to undermine presidential authority.
Welcoming the Supreme Court docket’s choice on Friday, Trump mentioned he was elected on a “historic mandate” and described the earlier rulings as a “grave threat to democracy.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media, after the U.S. Supreme Court docket dealt a blow to the facility of federal judges by proscribing their capacity to grant broad authorized reduction in circumstances because the justices acted in a authorized combat over President Donald Trump’s bid to restrict birthright citizenship, within the Press Briefing Room on the White Home in Washington D.C., June 27, 2025.REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
In response, Queens elected officers condemned the ruling, warning that stripping decrease courts of their capacity to difficulty nationwide injunctions might have “sweeping consequences” for the safety of constitutional rights.
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez mentioned the ruling was a “direct blow” to the rule of regulation and a “gift” to authoritarianism.
“By limiting the courts’ ability to block unlawful executive actions, the Supreme Court has cleared a path for Trump’s extremist agenda — including his unconstitutional attempt to end birthright citizenship, a right guaranteed by the 14th Amendment,” Velázquez mentioned in an announcement.
Nevertheless, she famous that the ruling doesn’t “settle” the birthright citizenship difficulty.
“That fight is far from over. The case will continue through the courts, and I will do everything in my power to defend the Constitution and protect the rights of every child born on American soil,” Velázquez mentioned.
State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, representing neighborhoods in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, described the Supreme Court docket ruling as a “travesty,” and described Trump’s efforts to finish birthright citizenship in sure circumstances as “simply cruel.”
Gonzalez added that Trump is a “fascist” and referred to as on New York State to implement measures to guard immigrant residents. She additionally expressed issues over the Trump Administration’s “attacks” on the judiciary department.
“Birthright citizenship has long been settled law and despite Trump’s disregard for our Constitution it is simply cruel to attempt to strip children of citizenship because of who their parents are,” Gonzalez mentioned in an announcement.
“This ruling also furthers the administration’s attacks on the judiciary branch, which we cannot simply allow if our Democracy is to stand. We will not go back and here in New York, we must pass protections for our immigrant neighbors and fight this fascist regime.”
State Sen. John Liu, in the meantime, mentioned the ruling “opens the door” to difficult birthright citizenship and “eroding” constitutional protections.
“By restricting nationwide injunctions, the court is attempting to create a future where even those born on American soil may be denied the right to live here,” Liu mentioned in an announcement. “This decision will have a deeply destabilizing effect on countless families in our community who believe in the promise of America and have fought to secure a future for their children. These rights are now uncertain.”
Liu referenced Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion stating that the ruling has created a “regime” the place “no right is safe.”
“Make no mistake: This is Donald Trump’s regime at work, nefariously designed to tip the scales of power and grant him more authoritarian control. This fight is not over, and we must continue to stand up to his daily overreaches and make sure the fundamental tenets of our democracy, like birthright citizenship and so many more, are protected,” Liu mentioned.
Meeting Member Jessica González-Rojas mentioned the ruling was “another blow to democracy” and referred to as on the New York State legislature to take a stand in opposition to the Trump Administration.
“The Constitution clearly states that anyone born in this country has a right to citizenship. But the Trump administration and its extreme right cohort have demonstrated a clear, yet disturbing willingness to undermine the truth,” González-Rojas mentioned.
González-Rojas additional accused the Trump Administration of changing the US into “Nazi Germany.”
“In their fearmongering and blatant thirst for chaos, they are outright tearing families apart, destroying our economy, and disappearing people off the streets like this is Nazi Germany. What we’re witnessing is nothing short of a coordinated attack on human rights—and at the center of it is Donald Trump.”
Council Member Julie Gained, representing Lengthy Island Metropolis, Sunnyside and Woodside, additionally expressed issues concerning the ruling, stating that the decision might disenfranchise a big variety of New Yorkers.
“All children born on U.S. soil are U.S. citizens,” Gained mentioned in an announcement. “This ruling would disenfranchise many New Yorkers, who are the children of immigrant families. Our office stands with all immigrant New Yorkers and I will continue fighting along with my colleagues in government to make sure every family is protected.”
Likewise, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards described the ruling as a “travesty” for the rule of regulation within the US.
“It doesn’t take a genius to interpret the words of the 14th Amendment of our Constitution — ‘All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States’ — as a guarantee of citizenship for every baby born on U.S. soil,” Richards mentioned in an announcement. “But sadly, all it takes is six right-wing Supreme Court justices to give our xenophobic president and his extremist allies a workaround of the Constitution in their attempt to ethnically cleanse our nation.”
