US, June 30 -- In one of the most consequential constitutional decisions in decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed that virtually every child born on American soil is a citizen of the United States, rejecting efforts to narrow the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause.

The decision leaves intact a principle that has stood for more than 150 years: American citizenship is not based on ancestry, race, religion, wealth, or the status of one's parents. It is rooted in the Constitution itself.

For supporters of the ruling, this is more than a legal victory. It is a victory for American values.

A Victory for Constitutional Tradition The Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted after the Civil War to overturn the ...