A majority of the Supreme Court expressed hostility Wednesday to President Donald Trump’s executive order that seeks to restrict birthright citizenship, even as he became the first sitting president in the modern era to attend oral arguments.
An attorney for the U.S. urged the justices to overturn multiple lower court rulings against the executive order, which would disallow citizenship for children born in the United States to undocumented immigrant parents or those with temporary legal status.
While some of the court’s six-member conservative bloc asked questions that appeared friendly to the administration, most pressed Solicitor General John Sauer to answer for reinterpreting a long-held understanding that those born in the U.S. become citizens.
