ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to uphold birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump’s executive order proposing to end it.
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Hani Ali founded MELCORR, a nonprofit that helps immigrants and refugees find mental health and legal support in Rochester, just over a year ago, and said this decision is huge. It means one less thing for immigrants, especially those seeking asylum, have to worry about.
The proposed change came on the first day of President Trump’s second term. His executive order challenged the 14th Amendment, declaring babies born to parents who are not citizens, or only in the U.S. temporarily, are not citizens themselves.
Ali said this decision was on their radar and something her agency has been advocating to keep. Finding safe access to delivery care is stressful for immigrant mothers, and many still live in fear of being separated from their children.
“It’s something that we can all deeply breathe and feel okay because there’s a lot of children that are undocumented as we speak. There’s a lot of applications that are pending, so this would be a relief to those specific populations,” Ali said. “So I want to let them know, everyone, that at least this is something that we could have some hope and thank the Supreme Court for that.”
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold birthright citizenship. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion.
Tuesday marked the end of the Supreme Court’s decision announcements for the term. Ali said seeing an increased ICE presence in Rochester over the last year has caused a lot of fear and anxiety for her clients, but this decision brings relief.
The Supreme Court released two other decisions Tuesday. One allows states to ban transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports teams. The other struck down a federal law that limits how much political parties can spend in elections.
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