Supreme Court Questions Trump's Order to Restrict US Birthright Citizenship

US Supreme Court justices yesterday took issue with Donald Trump's attempt to sidestep the Constitution to limit birthright citizenship, a case that could reshape presidential power and the role of federal courts.

- Joseph Gedeon, Kira Lerner and Robert Tait Washington

The trio of cases before the court stem from the president's January executive order that would deny US citizenship to babies born on American soil if their parents are not citizens or permanent residents.

The plan is likely to ultimately be struck down as it directly contradicts the 14th amendment, which grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States".

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Trump's executive order violates four Supreme Court precedents, while D John Sauer, the US solicitor general, said Trump's order was "protecting the meaning and value of American citizenship".

But Trump's legal team is not asking the Supreme Court to rule on whether his policy is constitutional, and very little of the arguments focused on the immigration issues at the heart of Trump's order. Instead, they are challenging whether lower court judges should be able to block presidential orders nationwide - a move that could overall weaken judicial checks on executive power.

Three federal judges have blocked the policy nationwide, including Deborah Boardman, a US district judge who ruled that "no court in the country has ever endorsed the president's interpretation".

Justice Elena Kagan pointed out that the government has lost every case about Trump's birthright citizenship order, and questioned why the administration decided to appeal to the Supreme Court.