Tommy Tuberville

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville says he would support a constitutional amendment to restrict birthright citizenship, despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that struck down President Donald Trump’s attempt to end the practice.

Tuberville, who is running for governor, went further than other Alabama politicians, saying he would support a change to the Constitution “100%.”

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Trump executive order and upheld the longstanding interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which says anyone born in the United States is a citizen, regardless of their parents’ citizenship or immigration status.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the U.S. Constitution protects birthright citizenship.

“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights—to freely participate in our political community,” Roberts wrote.

“The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land.’”

Trump has said he wants the court to rehear the case.

Blocked by the court’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment, some Republicans have begun suggesting a new constitutional amendment to limit the practice.

Ratifying a new amendment would require approval from two-thirds of both chambers of Congress and three-fourths of the states.

An amendment would have to be introduced as a joint resolution; currently, efforts to change birthright citizenship have only been introduced in Congress as normal bills.

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt said she is “extremely disappointed” in the Supreme Court’s decision to protect birthright citizenship.

Britt is the cosponsor of the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025, which would stop granting citizenship to the children of people who are in the United States illegally or who are present on a temporary visa.

The law would only apply to children born after it is enacted.

The Senate bill and a companion bill in the House have been introduced, but not moved to committee or been put up for vote.

Rep. Barry Moore, the Republican nominee for Alabama’s Senate seat, similarly said “Congress must act.”

A spokesman for Moore noted his work on sponsoring and voting for bills that would restrict immigration and increase enforcement.

“Americans deserve secure borders, safe streets, and an immigration system that serves their interests first,” Moore said.

Carlos Aleman, who leads HICA, an advocacy organization for Hispanic and Latino people in Alabama, praised the Supreme Court ruling and said it continues an important right for the children of immigrants.

Aleman said the “ruling is about the millions of Americans whose first breath in this country made them citizens, regardless of where their parents came from or what papers they carried,” he said.