Church cheers birthright citizenship ruling

Key points:

• United Methodists expressed gratitude that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned President Trump’s executive order denying birthright citizenship.
• United Methodist leaders also lamented that the high court upheld other Trump administration moves that target immigrants.
• Leaders especially raised concerns about the removal of protections for Haitians and Syrians who have been in the U.S. legally.

In a case closely watched by United Methodists, the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed that being born in the United States is, in general, enough to qualify for U.S. citizenship.

The high court, in a divided ruling, overturned President Trump’s executive order denying automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. whose parents are undocumented or here legally on a visa. Trump issued the executive order on Jan. 20, 2025, the day of his second inauguration.

“Children born in the United States to parents unlawfully or temporarily present are ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are citizens at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority in Trump v. Barbara.

While United Methodists expressed gratitude for the June 30 ruling, they also lament a series of rulings in the previous week that saw Supreme Court majorities largely side with the Trump administration’s moves to strip protections from asylum seekers and immigrants, including people in the U.S. legally.

"Today the Court has affirmed the long-held promise that those born on United States soil belong to it, and for this measure of justice we give thanks," Council of Bishops President Ruben Saenz. Jr. said in a statement on behalf of the bishops. "Yet the gospel proclaims a citizenship deeper still, for our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), and from that secure belonging we are freed to contend for the dignity of every earthly neighbor. Our rejoicing is therefore tempered, incomplete while the rulings of these same days leave others afraid."

The United Methodist Church has long taught — based on multiple Bible passages, including Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 25:35 — that church members are called to welcome migrants, refugees and immigrants. The United Methodist Social Principles, updated by the denomination’s 2024 General Conference, affirm “the dignity, worth, and rights of migrants, immigrants, and refugees” regardless of their country of origin or legal status. Church teachings also stress that all people bear the image of God.

With the ruling in Trump v. Barbara, the Supreme Court majority agreed with the legal argument that Trump’s push to restrict citizenship is a clear violation of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented. Justice Brett Kavanaugh concurred in overturning Trump’s executive order, but on statutory grounds not constitutional. Kavanaugh said the U.S. Congress could revise the law to enact the same restrictions listed in the order.

Every lower court that previously reviewed the executive order has ruled it unconstitutional, and it has never taken effect.

“I am grateful for the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the birthright clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” said retired Bishop Minerva Carcaño, who chairs the United Methodist bishops’ Immigration Task Force.

“However, I believe that we will need to continue to be alert to other efforts to undermine this core principle of American democracy.”

Attorneys with the Immigration Law and Justice Network, a United Methodist ministry that provides legal services for immigrants, also are breathing a sigh of relief with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Nevertheless, they and other United Methodist leaders deplore the administration’s efforts to chip away the rights of people, even with legal status.  

“President Trump has targeted immigrants since his first day in office, and his efforts to eliminate birthright citizenship with a stroke of a pen are at the center of his cruel and lawless agenda to create a permanent underclass of people,” said Melissa Bowe, the ministry’s co-executive director.

“The administration knows eliminating birthright citizenship wouldn’t solve any immigration problem. The goal was to fuel discrimination, confusion and deep harm to immigrant families and communities. The Supreme Court decision issued today echoes what we all know already — this kind of government-engineered exclusion is unconstitutional, un-American and morally indefensible.

"ILJ Network will continue to fight for the rights of all people in this country, rights which should be honored and preserved no matter who is in office," Bowe added.

The 14th Amendment’s first sentence states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

No state, the amendment continues, “shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The amendment, ratified in 1868, itself overturned one of the Supreme Court’s most ignominious decisions, Dred Scott v. Sandford, which held that the Black descendants of enslaved people could not be citizens.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1898 in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark that birthright citizenship in the 14th Amendment applies to the children of all immigrants.

For 50 years, the U.S. government did not consider Native Americans born on tribal lands “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” and thus barred tribal members from automatic citizenship. That changed with the 1924 Indian Citizenship Act, which extended birthright citizenship to all Native Americans “born within the territorial limits of the United States.”

Basically, for more than a century, the idea has been that no matter a person’s parentage or lineage, everyone born in the U.S. has the guarantee of citizenship. The narrow exceptions are for the children of foreign diplomats and invading occupying armies — people who, by definition, are not subject to U.S. laws. But even diplomats’ children, under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, have an avenue to become lawful permanent residents.

“The 14th Amendment has provided an essential American promise that everyone born here is a full and equal American, regardless of their race, religion or family circumstances,” said Bowe of the Immigration Law and Justice Network. “This principle has defined us as a country and has been upheld consistently by courts at every level of our judicial system many times.”

Multiple amicus briefs argued that if allowed to be carried out, Trump’s executive order would fundamentally alter U.S. society — creating a new class of unauthorized immigrants and potentially stateless people. As a practical matter, the executive order would deny citizenship to an average of 255,000 children born in the U.S. each year. That’s according to projections by the Migration Policy Institute and Penn State’s Population Research Institute.

Carcaño, the United Methodist bishop, attended a U.S. Senate hearing on birthright citizenship earlier this year. As she listened to arguments about Trump’s order, she said, she realized more was at stake than a birth certificate.

She was particularly struck by the historical arguments against Native American citizenship.

“President Trump’s stand against birthright citizenship builds on old sins of this country,” she said.

Last year, Carcaño and other United Methodists expressed disappointment that the U.S. Supreme Court delayed ruling on the merits of Trump’s executive order and instead used a case on the matter to limit the scope of lower-court judges’ injunctions against Trump’s actions. Last year’s ruling in Trump v. CASA, Inc., did open the door to class-action lawsuits. Trump v. Barbara stems from a class-action suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and its legal partners.

She and other United Methodist leaders also raise alarms about other recent Supreme Court rulings, including an unsigned decision last year that permits the Trump administration to deport undocumented immigrants to countries not identified in their removal orders where they risk being tortured.

The birthright citizenship ruling comes after a week that saw the high court rule repeatedly by a vote of 6 to 3 in favor of the Trump administration’s immigration restrictions.

In Mullin v. Doe, the court cleared the way for the Trump administration to remove temporary protected status from more than 350,000 people from Haiti and 6,100 from Syria who have lived and worked in the U.S. legally.

In Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, the court majority upheld the federal government’s policy of systematically turning people away at the U.S.-Mexico border without a chance to claim asylum. The United Methodist Board of Church and Society was part of an interfaith amicus brief in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado, defending the right to seek asylum.

In Blanche v. Lau, the court majority ruled that a border officer does not need to show “clear and convincing evidence” that a lawful permanent resident has committed “a crime involving moral turpitude” before denying that green card holder admission.

In all three cases, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.

A joint statement by six United Methodist agencies and ministries said the rulings on temporary protected status and asylum are “profoundly cruel and inhumane and represent a grave departure from our nation’s highest ideals.”

“These rulings abandon families fleeing violence, persecution and humanitarian crises, placing countless lives at greater risk,” the statement said. Signers include the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, Commission on Religion and Race, United Women in Faith, El Plan, Immigration Law and Justice Network and the Immigration Task Force.

United Methodist leaders especially decried the Mullin v. Doe decision that opens Haitians and Syrians to deportation to conflict-torn countries that the U.S. government has deemed too dangerous for Americans to travel to for any reason.

Many Haitians have found a church home in United Methodist congregations across the U.S. The newcomers have learned English, held jobs, raised families and contributed to their local economies for years.

Meanwhile, Haiti is suffering under one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Armed gangs control much of the country, driving widespread violence and hunger. The International Rescue Committee estimates that more than 1,200 people were killed between July and September 2025. Meanwhile the U.S. has dismantled international aid, and United Methodists do not have the capacity to make up the shortfall.

“While we understand the authority of the Supreme Court, as people of faith, we believe that every person is created in the image of God and has inherent worth,” said Roland Fernandes in a statement on behalf of the denomination’s mission and humanitarian aid agency.

Fernandes is the top executive of Global Ministries and the United Methodist Committee on Relief as well as the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry. He urged his fellow United Methodists to embody Christ’s call of compassion, accompaniment and advocacy.

In a pastoral letter, Florida Conference Bishop Tom Berlin said he hopes “that our churches will act in ways that will enable those who now face the possibility of deportation to know that they are not forgotten and are not alone.”

United Methodists have reason to work for the U.S. to live up to its aspirations of liberty and justice for all.

“As citizens of the U.S., and as persons of Christian faith, we must lead the effort to help the U.S. continue to address its sinful history,” Carcaño said.

That includes the impact of its support for coups in the Americas, the genocide of indigenous communities and the legacy of the capture and enslavement of African men, women and children, she said.

“We yet have a long journey ahead of us in overcoming these grave sins,” Carcaño said. “But today the U.S. Supreme Court helps us continue to move forward to redemption, healing and a truer democracy.”

Council of Bishops President Saenz, who also leads the Horizon Texas Conference, referenced Galatians 6:9 in urging United Methodists to not grow weary doing good.

"In a season when many are tempted toward fear and suspicion," Saenz said, "may The United Methodist Church be found, as ever, welcoming the stranger, loving the neighbor, and bearing the hope of Christ to all people."

Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digest.