PRESS RELEASE | Muslim Civic Coalition Welcomes Supreme Court Ruling Affirming Birthright Citizenship

"The Constitution held — and our fight for civic justice continues," the Coalition says, pledging to keep protecting immigrant families and combating anti-Muslim hate.

CHICAGO, IL (June 30, 2026) — The Muslim Civic Coalition today welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Trump v. Barbara, which rejects Executive Order 14160 and affirms the 14th Amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship. By a vote of 6-3 — with five justices concluding the order violated the 14th Amendment — the Court rejected the administration's attempt to deny birthright citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or parents on temporary visas. The decision preserves a principle that has defined American citizenship for more than 150 years: that nearly all children born on U.S. soil are citizens, regardless of their parents' immigration status. Even as it celebrated the ruling, the Coalition warned that the government overreach that produced the order has not stopped — and that Muslim and immigrant communities remain squarely in its path.

"Today, the Constitution held. The Court affirmed what has been true for more than 150 years — if you are born here, you belong here. This is a victory worth celebrating — for our children, for our families, and for the promise this nation made to all of us. And we honor everyone who organized, testified, and refused to stay silent to make it possible," said Muslim Civic Coalition Executive Director Amina Barhumi.

"But we are grateful and clear-eyed in the same breath, because a single victory does not end a campaign this determined — and too many of our communities know its pattern all too well. We have watched as one group after another is told who belongs and who does not, as neighborhoods are surveilled and families are targeted. Today, that same machinery grinds on: Temporary Protected Status is being stripped from Syrian and Haitian families; tens of thousands of people are held in an ICE detention system that just recorded its deadliest year; and people who dared to raise their voices are being sentenced to decades in prison.

"As American Muslims, we know that a right protected for one of us must be protected for all of us, and we will not be divided from our immigrant, Black, Latino, and Asian American neighbors. Guided by our faith and strengthened by our solidarity, we will keep fighting every act of we will keep fighting to protect every community. Our fight for civic justice continues."

What the ruling means:

The case: Trump v. Barbara tested Executive Order 14160, "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," issued January 20, 2025. The order sought to deny recognition of U.S. citizenship to certain children born on U.S. soil based on their parents' immigration status.

What the Court decided: The ruling rejects that order and affirms the 14th Amendment's Citizenship Clause — the guarantee, settled since the Supreme Court's 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, that nearly all persons born on U.S. soil are citizens regardless of their parents' status.

What it preserves: For families across Illinois and the nation, the decision protects a simple promise — a child born here is home. No parent will have to prove a newborn's citizenship based on their own immigration status.

Muslim Civic Coalition cautioned that the same forces behind the executive order have not relented:

• Temporary Protected Status: The administration has moved to strip TPS from an estimated 350,000 Haitian and roughly 6,100 Syrian nationals — among them Muslim families who fled the violence of the Assad regime — with protections for as many as 1.3 million people from 17 countries now in jeopardy. (NBC News) 

• Record detention: ICE's detained population reached an all-time high of more than 73,000 people in January 2026, after the deadliest year in detention on record. In the Chicago area's "Midway Blitz," people were detained nearly every day at the Broadview facility in Illinois. Muslims are among those held — in a system where religious needs like halal food and daily prayer too often go unmet. (American Immigration Council; Vera Institute)

• The criminalization of dissent: This week, eight people were sentenced to 30 to 100 years in connection with a protest at the Prairieland ICE detention center in Texas — longer than the sentences handed to participants in the January 6 Capitol assault, and including a 30-year term for a person who was not even present. Our community recognizes this playbook from the years after 9/11, when organizing and speaking out were too often treated as crimes. (The Intercept)

Immigrants in Illinois — who this victory protects, and what's still at stake:

• Illinois is home to roughly 2 million immigrants — about 15.4% of the state's population, a share that has risen over the past decade. (USAFacts / U.S. Census Bureau ACS)

• About 879,000 Illinois immigrants (44%) are already U.S. citizens, and another 453,000 are lawful permanent residents; roughly 161,000 are temporary immigrants such as visa holders and international students. (FWD.us, Illinois Fact Sheet, 2025)

• Nearly 148,000 U.S.-citizen children in Illinois already live with at least one undocumented parent — exactly the kind of mixed-status family whose future children today's ruling protects. (FWD.us, Illinois Fact Sheet, 2025)

• More than 400,000 Muslims call Illinois home, and 55% were born outside the U.S. — the highest per-capita Muslim population in the country. Many are immigrants, refugees, and members of mixed-status families with a direct stake in this fight. (Illinois Muslim Report)

• Nationwide, had the order taken effect, an estimated 255,000 babies a year would have been born without U.S. citizenship — swelling the "unauthorized" population by as many as 2.7 million people by 2045. Today's ruling prevents that outcome. (Migration Policy Institute & Penn State, 2025)

• The burden would have fallen hardest on communities of color: researchers projected Latino families would make up the largest share of those affected, while Asian immigrant families — including H-1B and student-visa households — would face the steepest per-capita impact. (Demography, Duke University Press, 2026)

The Muslim Civic Coalition is directing affected community members to qualified immigration attorneys and trusted legal-aid partners — including CAIR-Chicago (cairchicago.org), the Muslim Legal Fund of America (mlfa.org/apply-for-help), and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (icirr.org) — and is mobilizing voters ahead of the November 2026 midterms.

CONTACT: Amina Barhumi, Executive Director, Muslim Civic Coalition, info@muslimciviccoalition.org, 872-366-6883

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The Muslim Civic Coalition fights for civic justice — ensuring that Illinois Muslims and our neighbors have a say in the decisions that shape our lives. We combat anti-Muslim hate and build long-term community power by uniting people across races, faiths, and communities around a shared vision for our democracy. Guided by our faith and strengthened by solidarity, we don't just participate in democracy — we shape its future. Learn more at muslimciviccoalition.org