The Presidential limousine carrying US President Donald Trump departs after Trump attended oral arguments at the US Supreme Court on April 01, 2026, in Washington, DC. ANDREW HARNIK / AFP
The US Supreme Court was weighing Donald Trump's historic bid to end birthright citizenship on Wednesday, April 1, with the Republican president smashing protocol by sitting in the audience. The landmark case is a pillar in Trump's attempts to restrict immigration and his decision to attend oral arguments is unprecedented for a sitting president. Trump left the hearing after his solicitor general, John Sauer, presented, and did not remain for the arguments of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Cecillia Wang, who is defending birthright citizenship.
Trump signed an executive order on his return to the White House last year, decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens. Lower courts blocked the move as unconstitutional, ruling that under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, nearly everyone born on US soil is an American citizen.
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'Trump's attack on birthright citizenship serves to expand his authority by jeopardizing the status of all Americans'
