The recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court to eliminate nationwide injunctions impacting President Donald Trump's order that limits the right to birthright citizenship has elicited criticism from Hispanic Christian leaders and advocacy groups.
The decision, which was passed by a six to three vote in Trump v. Casa, Inc., permits the Trump administration to restrict automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants.
Carlos Durán, president of the National Alliance of Hispanic Pastors (NAHPA) and a prominent pro-life advocate, condemned the ruling, describing it as “an attack on human dignity and the nation's fundamental principles.”
He stated, “Denying citizenship to babies born on American soil is not hard, it's cruel. It tears at the essence of our commitment to life, family and national identity. We cannot build a better future by discarding children at their most vulnerable.”
Durán also urged conservative leaders to resist political pressure, emphasizing that “justice is based on the defense of human dignity. Political expediency must never prevail over fundamental human dignity.”
The lawsuit, Trump, et al. v. CASA, Inc., involved multiple parties challenging Trump’s January executive order that sought to abolish birthright citizenship. Several federal district courts had issued nationwide injunctions blocking the implementation of this order.
The core issue revolves around the interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump's order contends that the amendment was never meant “to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States,” and claims, “The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof.'”
Reverend Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, asserts that the 14th Amendment “leaves no room for reinterpretation: children born on U.S. soil are citizens.”
He, a progressive activist and pastor of an Assemblies of God congregation in Florida, emphasized, “As Latino Evangelicals, we affirm that birthright citizenship is both a constitutional guarantee and a moral conviction rooted in our faith.”
Additionally, RenaceUSA, a Wisconsin-based pro-life organization working with Evangelical Christian families across the country, expressed its opposition to the Supreme Court's decision.
Patricia Ruiz Cantù, the organization’s Executive Director, shared in a statement with The Christian Post, “This ruling is more than a legal setback — it's a moral failure and abandonment of our pro-life values. Stripping citizenship from children born in this country does not make us safer or stronger; it makes us forget who we are. Our faith tells us to honor the image of God in every child.”
