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US Supreme Court to rule on birthright citizenship and trans athletes

June 30, 2026

The US Supreme Court is set to release two major rulings on Tuesday addressing birthright citizenship and transgender athletes in school sports. The birthright citizenship case challenges President Trump's executive order attempting to limit automatic citizenship for children born in the US to parents who are undocumented or on temporary visas, potentially overturning 150 years of constitutional precedent based on the 14th Amendment. The second case examines whether states can prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports teams according to their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth.

Who is affected

  • Children born in the US to parents who are undocumented or on temporary visas
  • Hundreds of thousands of Haitian and Syrian migrants who had Temporary Protected Status
  • Transgender student athletes in Idaho and West Virginia (and potentially over two dozen other states with similar bans)
  • Cisgender female athletes competing in women's and girls' school and college sports
  • Federal agencies directed to implement citizenship restrictions

What action is being taken

  • The Supreme Court is releasing rulings on both cases on Tuesday
  • The ACLU and partners are pursuing a class action lawsuit (Barbara v Trump) challenging the birthright citizenship executive order
  • Transgender students are challenging state bans on their participation in sports in Idaho and West Virginia

Why it matters

  • This matters because the birthright citizenship ruling could overturn 150 years of constitutional precedent established by the 14th Amendment and potentially create what the ACLU describes as "a permanent subclass of people born in the United States." The transgender athlete decision will determine whether over two dozen states can legally restrict participation in school sports based on sex assigned at birth, affecting equal rights protections and civil rights laws for transgender students nationwide. Both rulings represent significant tests of constitutional interpretation that could reshape fundamental rights for millions of Americans.

What's next

  • No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: BBC