Key keywords: birthright citizenship, Trump administration, U.S. Supreme Court, rehearing petition, 14th Amendment, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, immigration policy, citizenship eligibility, 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, undocumented immigrant The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed this week that the Trump administration has not submitted a petition to rehear a high-profile case challenging the longstanding federal policy of birthright citizenship, closing off a key legal avenue for the administration to deliver on one of its signature campaign pledges. Birthright citizenship, guaranteed under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, grants automatic citizenship to all people born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. The policy was first cemented by the Supreme Court’s landmark 1898 ruling in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which held that a child born in the U.S. to Chinese immigrant parents was entitled to full citizenship under the amendment’s explicit text. For nearly a decade, former President Donald Trump and his allies have argued that the 14th Amendment was never intended to apply to children of undocumented immigrants, framing birthright citizenship as a “magnet” that encourages unlawful migration to the U.S. After returning to office in 2025, the administration moved forward with a legal challenge to the policy, which was unanimously rejected by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year. Legal analysts widely expected the administration to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, which currently has a 6-3 conservative majority that has overturned longstanding precedents on issues ranging from abortion to gun rights in recent years. However, the 90-day window for the administration to file a rehearing petition expired on October 16, 2025, with no filing received by the Supreme Court clerk’s office. Legal experts note that the decision to abandon the rehearing request likely stems from concerns that even the court’s conservative majority is unwilling to upend more than 120 years of settled legal precedent on citizenship. Multiple conservative justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, have previously indicated respect for stare decisis, the legal principle of upholding past rulings, in cases involving core constitutional rights. Immigrant advocacy groups celebrated the administration’s decision as a critical win for family stability and constitutional integrity. While the administration has not publicly commented on the decision, senior administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters that the White House is now exploring legislative options to restrict birthright citizenship, rather than pursuing further litigation at the Supreme Court.