BREAKING US Bishops Send 'Amicus' to the Supreme Court in Support of a Lawsuit Against President Trump's Limits to Birthright Citizenship

The U.S. Bishops Conference and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. submitted an amicus or “friend of the court” brief, supporting a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship.The oral argument in the case, Trump v. Barbara, is scheduled for April 1.

They write in the brief:
Amici are motivated by the teachings of the Catholic Church (the “Church”), including the central belief that every person is imbued with an inviolable dignity, and that all human life, created in the image and likeness of God, is sacred. It is through this lens that the Church stands for “treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.” Pope Leo XIV, Interview at Castel Gandolfo (Nov. 19, 2025). These teachings extend to immigrants in the United States without legal status and their American children who were born in the United States. Pope Leo XIV has consistently spoken out about how the dignity of all people—including immigrants and children—must be respected. Amici urge a comprehensive and humane approach to migration that ensures the God-given dignity of all persons is respected. See USCCB, Catholic Elements of Immigration Reform (Jan. 2025), https://tinyurl.com/3xnh7592.

Since the adoption and ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” have been entitled to United States citizenship. U.S. Const. amend. XIV, §1. Not only is the principle of birthright citizenship woven into our Nation’s history and Western tradition, but it is also consistent with Catholic teaching. Birthright citizenship aligns with the Church’s teaching that humans were created as social beings and that political authority is morally bound to affirm and protect the inherent dignity of every human person in the community. In turn, birthright citizenship reflects the Catholic principle of subsidiarity by recognizing persons as members of the community from birth, thereby enabling their participation in civic life and ensuring that state power serves the human person as a social being. 

Executive Order 14,160 (the “Executive Order”) purports to deny citizenship to children whose mother is “unlawfully present” or has “temporary” status, and whose father is not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident. 90 Fed. Reg. 8449, 8449 (Jan. 29, 2025). Amici’s opposition to the Executive Order is motivated by their firmly held belief that each person is endowed by God with an inherent dignity that confers certain “universal, inviolable, and inalienable” rights. Pope John XXIII, Pacem in Terris ¶145 (Apr. 11, 1963). The intended and unintended effects of the Executive Order are immoral and contrary to the Catholic Church’s fundamental beliefs and teachings regarding the life and dignity of human persons, the treatment of vulnerable people— particularly migrants and children—and family unity.

As Catholics, amici are guided by the compassion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our concern for our neighbors proceeds from God’s command to love others as he loved us. John 13:35. The Conference is saddened by the “climate of fear and anxiety” and the “vilification of immigrants” that is all too common in the rhetoric concerning immigration policy. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, U.S. Bishops Issue a “Special Message” on Immigration from Plenary Assembly in Baltimore (Nov. 12, 2025), https://tinyurl.com/39dyf57b. Thankfully, obstacles and prejudices over past generations have not prevented those generations of immigrants from making enormous contributions to the development of our great nation. But to protect God-given human dignity, which is inherent in the judicial task of rendering just judgments, this Court should hold that the Executive Order is unconstitutional and violative of 8 U.S.C. §1401(a). 

Source: https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25/25-365/399395/20260226144523582_25-365%20bsac%20United%20States%20Conference%20of%20Catholic%20Bishops.pdf