US Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, Indian-Americans cheer

Summary

Indian-American advocacy groups and lawmakers have welcomed a US Supreme Court ruling that struck down President Donald Trump's executive order restricting birthright citizenship, saying it reaffirmed that nearly all children born on American soil are citizens. The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Trump's bid to end the 150-year-old policy. He said, "Indian and South Asian immigrant families are among those most directly threatened by Trump's executive order – communities navigating long visa backlogs and uncertain immigration timelines, where children are often born here long before their parents have a clear path to permanence." He added that the Supreme Court looked at those families and said, "Your children are American. They belong here." Ajay Jain Bhutoria, a prominent Indian-American community leader, described the judgment as a "monumental victory". "The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling protects birthright citizenship for immigrant families who built their lives here. Khanderao Kand, President and Chief of Policy and Strategy of the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies, said the court's decision had provided much-needed certainty for millions of families who have built their lives in America. "The Indian-American community, now nearly 5.2 million strong, includes more than 1.2 million highly skilled professionals and family members waiting in the employment-based green card backlog for years," he said. "We hope this moment also renews the focus on modernising our legal immigration system so that those who play by the rules are treated with fairness, certainty, and dignity." Indian-American lawmakers Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal and Suhas Subramanyam also welcomed the ruling, calling Trump's executive order a "blatant and unconstitutional attempt to strip citizenship from children of immigrants all across the country". "Since its ratification in the wake of the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment has enshrined the principles of equal citizenship and equal protection under the law, including its guarantee of birthright citizenship," he said. We are American, we belong here, and we will continue to defend birthright citizenship for generations to come." The ruling was welcomed across Indian-American groups and among lawmakers, who said it protected birthright citizenship, upheld the Fourteenth Amendment, and brought certainty for immigrant families, including those facing long visa and green card backlogs.