Donald Trump attended a Supreme Court hearing on the legality of his executive order ending birthright citizenship in person – a historic first for a US president.
The court is hearing Mr Trump’s appeal of a lower court ruling that struck down his directive ending automatic citizenship for children born to parents who are in the US illegally or temporarily.
Mr Trump, who wore a red tie and dark suit, sat in the first row of the public section of the courtroom for the hearing on Wednesday.
After listening to the opening arguments, Mr Trump left the hearing.
His presence in the courtroom made him the first sitting president to attend oral arguments at the nation’s highest court.
A definitive ruling on the executive order, which Mr Trump signed on the first day of his second term to bring down immigration, is expected early in the summer.
The case poses another test to Mr Trump’s assertion of executive power, with the US president reacting furiously when the court has ruled against him in the past.
Birthright citizenship is the first of Mr Trump’s immigration-related policies to reach the court for a final ruling.
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Mr Trump issued a pre-emptive attack on the Supreme Court justices on Sunday, writing on his Truth Social platform: “Birthright Citizenship is not about rich people from China, and the rest of the World, who want their children, and hundreds of thousands more, FOR PAY, to ridiculously become citizens of the United States of America. It is about the BABIES OF SLAVES!”
He added: “Dumb Judges and Justices will not a great Country make!”
Just before Wednesday’s hearing began, crowds watched on as Mr Trump’s motorcade drove along Constitution and Independence Avenues, passing the Washington Monument, on the way to the court building.
‘Demeans the priceless gift of American citizenship’
US solicitor general John Sauer, representing the Trump administration, told the court “unrestricted birthright citizenship contradicts the practice of the overwhelming majority of modern nations”.
“It demeans the priceless and profound gift of American citizenship,” he said.
“It operates as a powerful pull factor for illegal immigration and rewards illegal aliens who not only violate the immigration laws but also jump in front of those who follow the rules.”
He raised the practice of “birth tourism”, in which parents come to the US temporarily to give birth to secure US citizenship for their child.
When asked how many people came to the US for this purpose, Mr Sauer said: “No one knows for sure”.
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Birthright citizenship is upheld under the 14th amendment of the US constitution, which has long been interpreted as guaranteeing citizenship for babies born on American soil.
The 14th amendment was ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, which ended slavery in the US and overturned a 1857 Supreme Court decision that had declared that people of African descent could never be American citizens.
