Supreme Court: Your US-Born Child Is American

The case was about an order meant to restrict birthright citizenship for children whose parents are in the United States unlawfully or only temporarily.

The court struck it down. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, children born in the United States are citizens from birth, even if their parents are in the country unlawfully or only temporarily.

The majority cut across the usual camps and included justices appointed by presidents of both parties.

Very directly. If you live in the United States on an E-2, an L-1 or another temporary status and have a child there, that child is an American citizen. How long you have been there doesn't matter, and neither does your status.

It was already the case before, it has been the case for more than 150 years, and now the highest court has confirmed it.

An American passport for your child is a gift and an obligation, and parenting forums almost never mention the second half.

An American citizen is taxable worldwide, for life, no matter where they live. Your Texas-born child who moves back to Europe at three, goes to school there, studies there, works there and marries there will, at twenty-five, be required to report their European income to the American tax authorities.

As a rule, they will pay nothing, because tax treaties and the credit for foreign taxes prevent it. But they have to file, and they have to report their accounts back home.

And at the latest when they open their first investment account, they will notice that European banks are cautious with American citizens, because the reporting duties are a burden for them.

Get the birth certificate and the American passport while you are there. In the US, both take weeks; from Europe, it is a months-long exercise through a consulate.

Apply for the Social Security number. It is applied for at the hospital at birth if you tick the box. Forget it, and catching up later takes considerable effort.

And think about taxes from day one. An American child with European parents will have a filing obligation as an adult. Set up an account with European funds for them at eighteen and you set them up with a problem, because American law penalizes this type of investment.

Six weeks after this decision, on August 6, 2026, a new order was signed that pursues the same goal by a different route. Its title is about protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship.

So this question will clearly keep the courts busy. As the law stands today: the ruling stands, and it comes from the highest court.

For families expecting a child in the United States in the coming months, this means the law is settled, and it is on your side. For families planning a birth specifically to get their child a passport, it means something else; more on that in a moment.

There is an industry that sells pregnant women from abroad stays in the United States so their child is born there. That is legally delicate, not because of the child but because of the mother.

A child born there is a citizen. Period. But anyone who applies for a visa or travel authorization and misstates the purpose of the trip is making a misrepresentation to an immigration authority. And in this legal system, that weighs extremely heavily, permanently.

So if you enter the country pregnant, don't hide it, and be able to show that the medical costs are covered. Lie, and you risk a bar that will follow you and your family for decades.

For families who already live and work there, the question doesn't even arise. Their child is born there because they live there. That is the normal case, and it is completely unproblematic.

A child born in the United States changes the whole family's situation, in several ways.

For the parents' residence, at first not at all. An American child gives its parents no right to stay. Only at twenty-one can the child sponsor its parents as immediate relatives. So if you think a child is a route to a green card, you are off by two decades.

For school and university, a great deal. The child has access to public schools like anyone else and later pays in-state tuition at public universities, a fraction of what foreigners pay. With American tuition fees, that is a six-figure difference over four years.

And for family planning in the broader sense. A child with two passports grows up with two sets of options. They can study in Europe and work in America, or the other way round, without ever needing a visa. That is an advantage money can't buy.

Because the question is sure to come: an uncomplicated birth in an American hospital is billed to the insurer at an amount that shocks European ears. A C-section or complications multiply it.

So what matters is not the list price but your insurance: what share is covered, how high the deductible is, how high the annual out-of-pocket maximum is, and whether the hospital is in your insurer's network.

That last point is the most expensive mistake expecting parents in America can make. An out-of-network hospital bills differently, and the difference can run to five figures.

So if you are expecting, check beforehand: hospital in network, obstetrician in network, anesthesiologist in network, pediatrician in network. All four, separately. What depends on it is covered in US health insurance: an overview.

In a year like this, it is easy to get the impression that America is closing its doors. For nine months we have been writing here about fees, tightened rules and procedures.

This ruling tells a different story, and it is the older one. The Fourteenth Amendment was written after the Civil War to make sure the children of freed slaves were citizens. From the start, it was a commitment that belonging in this country depends not on ancestry but on place.

That six justices upheld this sentence in 2026, against the will of the sitting president, says more about this country's constitution than any order issued this year.

For a child born in a Texas hospital, that means something very concrete: they belong, from their first breath, without anyone having to decide it. Few countries in the world do it this way, and it is one of the reasons people have been coming here for two hundred years.

Before the birth: check your insurance, confirm that everyone involved is in network, get a cost estimate. American hospitals provide estimates on request.

At the hospital: apply for the birth certificate and the Social Security number; both are handled right there.

In the first few weeks: order several certified copies of the birth certificate from the county, because you will need them again and again over the years. Apply for the American passport.

And then, calmly: talk to someone who knows the tax side of both countries and set the course for the next twenty years. It is the cheapest moment there will ever be to do it.

Because in the end, that is what moving abroad is really about: not tax rates and not visa categories, but where your children will one day naturally belong. This ruling answers that for everyone born here.

It is the second major decision this year in which the highest court has ruled against the sitting president. In February it was tariffs; now it is citizenship.

Anyone looking at this country from Europe and seeing only the loud headlines misses exactly this. There is an independent judiciary here that rules against the executive when it sees fit, and its decisions are followed.

For anyone thinking about building a business here, buying a house and raising children, that is the information that counts. Not whether politics is pleasant right now, but whether there are limits that work.

If you have a birth in the United States ahead of you and want to get the legal and tax side in order, talk to Mount Bonnell Advisors in Austin, Texas. For everything else families need to think about when moving, see Your US Move and Schools and Education.

Consultation & implementation

If you'd like to find out what this means for your own situation, the best step is to book a consultation.