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President Donald Trump is making a historic appearance at the Supreme Court on Wednesday to listen as justices weigh his executive order to curb birthright citizenship.
No sitting president has attended oral arguments at the high court before, underscoring the weight Trump has placed on the landmark case, which could upend more than 100 years of precedent that has allowed most babies born in the U.S. to receive automatic citizenship.
Attorney General Pam Bondi accompanied Trump at the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning.
“I have listened to this argument for so long, and this is not about Chinese billionaires, or billionaires from other countries who all of a sudden have 75 children or 59 children in one case, or 10 children becoming American citizens. This was about slaves,” Trump told Fox News’ Peter Doocy in the Oval Office on Tuesday of the case.
SUPREME COURT PREPARES TO REVIEW TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
At issue in the case is the language in the 14th Amendment that says anyone born in the United States and “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” is automatically a citizen. Trump noted that the provision was a relic of the Civil War.
“It had to do with the babies of slaves,” Trump said. “It didn’t have to do with the protection of multimillionaires and billionaires wanting to have their children get American citizenship. It is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s been so badly handled by legal people over the years.”
BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP SUPPORTERS GET THE LAW WRONG BY IGNORING OBVIOUS EVIDENCE
Trump’s order would change the scope of birthright citizenship, which allows babies born to noncitizens in the United States to automatically receive U.S. citizenship, except in the cases of those born to foreign diplomats.
Lower courts have uniformly rejected Trump’s policy and blocked it through injunctions in class action lawsuits.
Trump has argued that as part of his immigration crackdown, he wants to curtail abuses of the 14th Amendment, which can include foreigners traveling to the United States strictly to give birth with no intention of legally settling in the country.
The amendment also incentivizes migrants to enter the country illegally to give birth and rewards pregnant women already living illegally in the country by imparting citizenship to their children, the administration has said.
HOW TO MAKE PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION PAUSE STICK IN COURT
Trump is expected to look on as John Sauer, his solicitor general, makes the case to the justices that they should side with the president. Traditionally, only the justices and the lawyers arguing the case speak during oral arguments.
An American Civil Liberties Union lawyer will argue against Trump’s executive order before the high court on Wednesday. In a statement, an ACLU executive director said that Trump could “watch the ACLU school him in the meaning of the Constitution” and that the organization would “be glad to sit alongside of him.”
“Any effort to distract from the gravity and importance of this case will not succeed,” ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said. “The Supreme Court is up to the task of interpreting and defending the Constitution even under the glare of a sitting president a couple dozen feet away from them.”
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