Who Is an American

Susan Estrich on Jun 28, 2025

So now all the babies born to undocumented parents in the 28 states that didn't challenge President Donald Trump's executive order will have to sue (anonymously, of course, lest this administration deport them, which it would if it could find them) to demand that the Constitution be followed in their state and get an injunction of their own. Or else you can have a patchwork of rights, with an authoritarian dictatorship in some states and the rule of law for the litigious.

That's the result of a bitterly divided (6-3) decision of the Supreme Court on Friday holding that federal district courts don't have the power to issue nationwide injunctions against a president who is blatantly overreaching his powers.

Even though the king may have reached too far, the courts can only stop him state-by-state. So much for one nation, under law.

This is the much-watched case of birthright citizenship, playing out Trump's obsession with stripping immigrants to this country of their dignity. The Original Birther, who challenged President Barack Obama's entitlement to citizenship, baselessly.

The court was careful to point out that it was not deciding the merits of the president's executive order ending birthright citizenship. It did not decide he had the unilateral power to rewrite the Constitution; it did not even assume that. The law be damned, but we won't enforce it now.

Wait till next year. Let him rule like a king of the Disunited States until we get back to town. The Supreme Court won't rule on the merits of the case -- whether what Trump did is constitutional -- until it makes its way back to the court next term. When it strips the lower courts of their power to limit a would-be king -- as it did this week -- it renders the rule of law a travesty. For now.

Anyone born here (with narrow exceptions) is an American. That's what ratification of the 14th Amendment provided. It is what Trump is trying to singlehandedly repeal. Federal judges, hearing these cases, have expressed shock and awe that Trump would try to do this by executive order. So much for the oath to uphold the Constitution. A new exception for the 14th Amendment, or any other amendment or provision he doesn't like. As of Friday, members of Congress were still waiting for their briefing on the war against Iran, which began the preceding Saturday. So much for the war powers provision of the Constitution.

Never have we seen an administration so forthright about its willingness to flout the law, disobey court orders, misinform the courts about what the administration is doing and is not doing. It has been repeatedly, but not universally, rebuked by courageous federal courts who are holding the line against most of the worst abuses of power. This is the first administration whose leaders, up to and including the White House, openly speculate about not following the decisions of the Supreme Court. For Stephen Miller, who reportedly has the president's ear, it's not even a question. J.D. Vance answered it years ago, when he said, referencing Andrew Jackson, that when the courts stop the executive, the president should "stand before the country ... and say: 'The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.'"

The federal courts today need the support of the Supreme Court. It is no time to cut off their wings.

The Supreme Court announced that its decision would not take effect for 30 days. More lawsuits to come.

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To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.