On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard more than two hours of arguments in an historic case, known as Trump v. Barbara, about birthright citizenship.
President Trump has long argued that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which codified birthright citizenship into law, was passed and ratified by state legislatures just to allow slaves and children of slaves to qualify to be citizens. He contends it should not apply today to the children of people without legal status. On his first day back in the Oval Office, Trump issued an executive order that ended birthright citizenship.
Multiple lower courts have blocked that order. One judge called it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
The Supreme Court will issue its ruling sometime this summer.
University of Baltimore School of Law professor Kim Wehle is one of the country's leading constitutional law experts. She is the author of several books about the law, and hosts a Substack called The Little Law School. She is also a legal commentator for ABC News.
After today's oral arguments on birthright citizenship concluded, Kim Wehle joined Midday host Tom Hall on Zoom.
