Trump asks US Supreme Court to rule on birthright citizenship

The Trump administration has asked the US Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship, pushing the issue before the justices for the second time this year, according to CNN.

Despite more than a century of legal interpretation that the 14th Amendment confers citizenship on people born in the United States, the administration told the court that view was "mistaken" and had become "pervasive, with destructive consequences."

The Supreme Court in June issued a ruling related to Trump’s birthright order, but that case focused on the procedural question of how much power lower courts have to block presidential policies.

A 6-3 majority limited, but did not entirely eliminate, the ability of courts to issue such nationwide blocks.

That ruling led states and individuals challenging the order to file new cases, including class-action lawsuits, which have continued to keep the policy on hold.

The administration is now asking the justices to resolve the matter directly.

At issue are two rulings from lower courts that halted the enforcement of Trump’s order.

In July, a San Francisco-based appeals court upheld a Seattle judge’s nationwide block in a case brought by Democratic-led states.

Earlier that month, a New Hampshire judge barred enforcement against babies covered by the order in a class-action suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The Justice Department also appealed the New Hampshire decision to a Boston-based appellate court, but that case has not yet been heard.

ACLU attorney Cody Wofsy, who argued the New Hampshire case, said, "This executive order is illegal, full stop, and no amount of manoeuvring from the administration is going to change that. We will continue to ensure that no baby’s citizenship is ever stripped away by this cruel and senseless order."

Trump signed the executive order on January 20.

Titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," it directed federal agencies not to "issue documents recognising United States citizenship" to children born on American soil to parents in the country unlawfully or those in the US lawfully but temporarily.

What does birthright citizenship mean?

Birthright citizenship makes anyone born in the United States an American citizen, including children born to mothers in the country illegally.

The practice goes back to soon after the Civil War, when Congress ratified the Constitution's 14th Amendment.

"All persons born or naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States," the amendment states.

Trump's executive order, signed in January, seeks to deny citizenship to children who are born to people who are living in the US illegally or temporarily.

It's part of the hardline immigration agenda of the president, who has called birthright citizenship a "magnet for illegal immigration."

Trump and his supporters focus on one phrase in the amendment — "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" – saying it means the US can deny citizenship to babies born to women in the country illegally.

A series of federal judges have said that’s not true and issued nationwide injunctions stopping his order from taking effect.