As the Supreme Court weighs birthright citizenship, Trump’s claims don’t add up

He claims it’s abused by foreigners, misinterpreted in law and rare globally. Courts and history say otherwise as justices weigh its future

One of the most important Supreme Court rulings expected this year is whether to uphold the constitutional protection that babies born in the U.S. are citizens.

Trump issued an executive order on his first day of this term seeking to end birthright citizenship. Lower courts have ruled that his order was unconstitutional and now the Supreme Court will rule by July 4.

Days before the April 1 oral arguments, Trump railed against birthright citizenship with talking points that the longstanding practice of granting automatic citizenship to U.S.-born babies is abused by wealthy foreigners, was meant for the children of enslaved people, and that the U.S. is an outlier.

Time for a fact-check.