Justice Samuel Alito invoked an analogy from late Justice Antonin Scalia Wednesday as the Supreme Court weighed whether birthright citizenship extended to children of illegal immigrants.
Alito said Scalia had illustrated how to apply textualism to modern circumstances, a point he raised during high-stakes oral arguments over President Donald Trump’s effort to limit birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment, which grants most people born in the United States automatic citizenship. Textualism is a legal view that courts should read laws and the Constitution according to their plain text and original meaning.
Alito said illegal immigration, similar to modern technology such as microwaves, was relatively unknown when the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868. Alito acknowledged historical exceptions to the amendment, including children born to foreign diplomats and certain Native Americans, and he questioned whether illegal immigrants’ children could be considered a comparable modern-day exception.
“Justice Scalia had an example that dealt with this situation,” Alito said. “He imagined an old theft statute that was enacted well before anybody conceived of a microwave oven. And then, afterwards, someone is charged with the crime of stealing a microwave oven. And this fellow says, ‘Well, I can’t be convicted under this because the microwave oven didn’t exist at that time.’ And he dismissed that. There’s a general rule there, and you apply it to future applications.”
HOW THE SUPREME COURT’S INJUNCTION RULING ADVANCES TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT
Alito said illegal immigration “was basically unknown at the time when the 14th amendment was adopted.”
“So, how did we deal with that situation when we have a general rule?” Alito asked, questioning if the rule was intended to “apply to later applications that might come up.”
SUPREME COURT PREPARES TO REVIEW TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
Solicitor General John Sauer argued to the Supreme Court in support of Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order, which would end automatic citizenship for babies born in the United States to mothers who are illegal immigrants or legal temporary visitors.
“I strongly agree with the way that you framed it, that there is a general principle,” Sauer told Alito of the microwave analogy.
While Sauer appeared in sync with Alito, most of the justices voiced strong skepticism of Trump’s arguments. Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas appeared to be the most likely to back Trump’s position.
Justice Elena Kagan said Sauer could not argue in the way Alito suggested because the bulk of Sauer’s arguments had centered on people temporarily visiting the country, not illegal immigrants.
“Your whole theory of the case is built on that group … so you can’t really be going with Justice Alito’s theory,” Kagan said. “You must be saying that there is a principle that was there at the time of the 14th Amendment.”
Alito invokes Scalia analogy in birthright citizenship fight over illegal immigration 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2026-04-01 19:53:39 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
