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The president made a quiet entrance into the courtroom, slipping in without the usual pomp and circumstance, and notably went unrecognized by the presiding judges.
After spending an hour seated a few rows back from the front of the public gallery, he decided to make an unceremonious exit.
Interestingly, the president’s official calendar was clear for another 90 minutes following his departure, suggesting no pressing engagements awaited him.
At the heart of his courtroom appearance is a significant constitutional challenge. The president is seeking to overturn the longstanding 1868 constitutional amendment, which bestows citizenship on anyone born on U.S. soil.
However, the judges seemed unpersuaded by the arguments presented by his administration, leaving doubt over the success of this ambitious legal endeavor.
“The clause thus does not extend citizenship to the children of temporary visa holders or illegal aliens,” Sauer said.
“Unlike the newly freed slaves, those visitors lack direct and immediate allegiance to the United States.”
“The examples you give to support that strike me as very quirky, children of ambassadors, children of enemies during a hostile invasion, children on warships,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.
“Then you expand it to a whole class of illegal aliens are – are here in the country.”
Sauer said there were eight billion people who were a plane ride away from having a child who is a US citizen.
“Well, it’s a new world,” Roberts said. “It’s the same constitution.”
The president later wrote about the case on Truth Social.
“We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!” Trump said.
That claim, which has been made multiple times by the administration, is not true. About 30 countries, mostly in the Americas, have birthright citizenship.
The Supreme Court likely won’t issue a ruling on this case for several months, but judicial experts believe they will likely side against Trump.
The Trump administration would look to replace birthright citizenship with one where a child’s status would be determined by their parents’ citizenship.
Trump’s Scottish-born mother became a US citizen in 1942, four years before he was born.
His father Fred was born to German immigrant parents.
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