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WASHINGTON (REUTERS)
With US President Donald Trump present, Supreme Court justices signalled skepticism on Wednesday toward the legality of his directive to restrict birthright citizenship in the US, part of his immigration approach that would upend long-held understanding of a key constitutional provision.
In his historic visit to the top US judicial body, Trump, wearing a red tie and dark suit, sat in the front row of the public gallery of the ornate courtroom after arriving by motorcade from the White House. The Republican president then left midway through the proceedings not long after the lawyer arguing for his administration completed his presentation.
Several of the nine justices, conservatives and liberals alike, grilled the Justice Department lawyer defending Trump's action with questions about various legal aspects of his directive. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
The justices heard more than two hours of arguments in the Trump administration's appeal of a lower court's decision that blocked his executive order directing US agencies not to recognise the citizenship of children born in the United States if neither parent is an American citizen or legal permanent resident, also called a "green card" holder.
Trump became the first sitting president to attend an oral argument at the Supreme Court, according to Clare Cushman, the resident historian at the Supreme Court Historical Society. Trump, joined by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, was at the courthouse for a bit more than an hour and a half.
The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution has long been interpreted as guaranteeing citizenship for babies born in the United States, with only narrow exceptions such as the children of foreign diplomats or members of an enemy occupying force.
The provision at issue, known as the Citizenship Clause, states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."
The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War of 1861-1865 that ended slavery in the United States.
