Trump asks Supreme Court to review naturalization decree

On Friday, President Donald Trump's administration asked the US Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of his executive order restricting birthright citizenship for children born on American soil.

Trump signed the order immediately after returning to office in January. It requires federal authorities to deny citizenship to children whose parents are neither US citizens nor green card holders. However, several courts have declared the measure unconstitutional and suspended it.

In its petition, the Justice Department argues that lower courts “wrongly granted hundreds of thousands of unlawful persons the privileges of U.S. citizenship.” According to the department, the general granting of citizenship encourages illegal immigration and so-called “birth tourism.”

The Supreme Court, where conservatives have a 6-3 majority, has repeatedly supported Trump's immigration policies in the past. This new case is expected to be a significant test of the limits of the 14th Amendment – “all persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens” – as well as of presidential powers in immigration policy.

(reuters, sab)