Trump attacks Supreme Court ahead of birthright citizenship ruling

President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Supreme Court are colliding with a slate of pending rulings, including on birthright citizenship, that could carry outsized consequences for Asian American families.

Some of the court’s biggest unresolved cases this term test Trump’s reach over government. Soon, the justices must decide whether he can curb birthright citizenship, fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook — a move that would hand him far greater control over the central bank — or remove independent agency heads without cause. Trump is seen as having the strongest odds on the agency-firing case, but there is deeper skepticism toward birthright citizenship and Cook’s ouster. So far, he has attacked the justices in personal terms, at various points calling them “bad,” “stupid” and “weak.”

Meanwhile, the court’s rulings keep coming. In a separate 6-3 decision Tuesday, the justices sided with his administration and upheld immigration officers’ authority to place a returning green-card holder accused of a crime on immigration parole rather than admitting him outright. Dissenting, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that the ruling hands officials “a massive blank check.”

The birthright citizenship case, which stems from Trump’s January 2025 executive order, is critical for Asian American communities. A Penn State study published in April found that when adjusted for population size, Asian Americans would be hit hardest of any racial group. This is largely because 70% of Asian immigrants lacking permanent residency are on temporary visas.

The case is also historically resonant. Justices have repeatedly cited United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the 1898 ruling securing citizenship for a Chinese immigrant’s San Francisco-born son. Wong’s great-grandson attended oral arguments on April 1, where Chief Justice John Roberts called the administration’s reading of the 14th Amendment “very quirky.” Mike Davis, a Trump ally and former friend of Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, has stoked the debate further, telling the Washington Post that a ruling against Trump would mean the court “gives Chinese birth tourists birthright citizenship.”

With the term set to wrap up by late June or early July, rulings on birthright citizenship, the Fed and independent agencies are expected within days. The financial stakes are steep, with another study estimating that ending birthright citizenship could erase nearly $1 trillion in future lifetime earnings for children not yet born into affected families. California and Texas face the steepest losses.

The court is not the only branch pushing back on Trump this week. The Senate voted Tuesday to advance a war powers measure ordering him to halt military action against Iran, a largely symbolic move since the White House insists it carries no legal force. Either way, little is likely to change.