{"id":348732,"date":"2026-04-01T10:14:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/birthright-citizenship-case-justices-question-administrations-quirky-arguments"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:14:34","slug":"birthright-citizenship-case-justices-question-administrations-quirky-arguments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/birthright-citizenship-case-justices-question-administrations-quirky-arguments","title":{"rendered":"Birthright citizenship case: Justices query administration&#8217;s &#8216;quirky&#8217; arguments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">Solicitor General D. John Sauer got a somewhat frosty reception from at least two key Supreme Court Justices &#8212; Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch &#8212; as oral arguments in the Supreme Court&#8217;s landmark <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/wireStory\/birthright-citizenship-world-sees-supreme-court-case-looms-131580630\" dir=\"ltr\">birthright citizenship case<\/a> got underway Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">President Donald Trump arrived at the Supreme Court Wednesday morning, making him the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/Politics\/trump-historic-attends-supreme-court-arguments-birthright-citizenship\/story?id=131610905\" dir=\"ltr\">first sitting president<\/a> to attend the high court&#8217;s arguments.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Trump is asking the justices to uphold his <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/trump-order-national-energy-emergency-issue-memorandum-inflation\/story?id=117886219\" dir=\"ltr\">Day 1 executive order<\/a> eliminating<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->birthright citizenship<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->under a novel interpretation of the 14th Amendment and requiring parents to prove their own legal status before citizenship is granted to their children.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Roberts noted that the Trump administration is relying on &#8220;very quirky&#8221; arguments, saying they are using &#8220;narrow exceptions&#8221; to claim that a much broader class of people should be ineligible for birthright citizenship.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;You know, children of ambassadors, children of enemies during a hostile invasion, children on warships, and then you expand it to the whole class of illegal aliens here in the country. I&#8217;m not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and sort of idiosyncratic examples,&#8221; said Roberts.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Gorsuch also remarked that the Trump administration seems to be relying on outdated &#8220;Roman law sources&#8221; and court precedents that do not work in their favor.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I&#8217;m not sure how much you want to rely on Wong Kim Ark,&#8221; Gorsuch remarked about the landmark 1898 case that enshrined birthright citizenship.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"oLzSq QrHMO fnRUo pvsTF EhJPu vPlOC zNYgW OsTsW RMeqy daRVX ISNQ sKyCY eRftA acPPc MENS nFwaT MCnQE mEeeY SmBjI xegrY rPLsU iulOd NIuqO zzscu lzDCc aHUBM IEgzD OjMNy eQqcx SVqKB GQmdz jaoD VWDdR ONJdw vrZxD OnRTz gbbfF roDbV GPGwb oMlSS gfNzt oJhud eXZcf zhVlX \">\n<div>\n<div class=\"InlineImage GpQCA lZur asrEW \" data-testid=\"prism-inline-image\">\n<figure class=\"kzIjN GNmeK pYrtp dSqFO \" data-testid=\"prism-figure\">\n<div class=\"GpQCA lZur \" style=\"padding-bottom:67.01388888888889%\" data-testid=\"prism-ratio-frame\">\n<div class=\"FvQLF iLTd NqeUA UzzHi iWsMV \"><picture data-testid=\"prism-picture\"><source media=\"(max-width: 414px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/5473e04a-a643-4a84-9c2a-cea81dba2b7f\/scotus-gty-er-260330_1774902569305_hpMain_2.jpg?w=375, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/5473e04a-a643-4a84-9c2a-cea81dba2b7f\/scotus-gty-er-260330_1774902569305_hpMain_2.jpg?w=750 2x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 415px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/5473e04a-a643-4a84-9c2a-cea81dba2b7f\/scotus-gty-er-260330_1774902569305_hpMain_2.jpg?w=750, https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/5473e04a-a643-4a84-9c2a-cea81dba2b7f\/scotus-gty-er-260330_1774902569305_hpMain_2.jpg?w=1500 2x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"ambassadors\" alt=\"PHOTO: Justices of the Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court, Oct. 7, 2022. \" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR SjwtZ hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/5473e04a-a643-4a84-9c2a-cea81dba2b7f\/scotus-gty-er-260330_1774902569305_hpMain_2.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>\n<div class=\"nMMea bNYiy Mjgpa dGwha DDmxa jgKNG RGHCC aBIU PriDW lZur \" data-testid=\"prism-caption\">\n<p><span class=\"hsDdd OOSI GpQCA lZur VlFaz \" data-testid=\"prism-truncate\"><span><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ \">Justices of the Supreme Court pose for their official photo at the Supreme Court, Oct. 7, 2022. (Seated from left) Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Samuel Alito and Associate Justice Elena Kagan, (Standing behind from left) Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"gtOSm FbbUW tUtYa vOCwz EQwFq yCufu eEak Qmvg nyTIa SRXVc vzLa jgBfc WXDas CiUCW kqbG zrdEG txGfn ygKVe BbezD UOtxr CVfpq xijV soGRS XgdC sEIlf daWqJ YNujN JGtjI aZFDu rkKLh \">Olivier Douliery\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Justice Elena Kagan similarly voices concerns about the sources cited by the Trump administration.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;You&#8217;re using some pretty obscure sources to get to this concept,&#8221; she said.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Justice Samuel Alito initiated a discussion on &#8220;illegal immigration&#8221; by noting that it was &#8220;something that was basically unknown&#8221; at the time when the 14th amendment was adopted in the 1860s.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;What we&#8217;re dealing with here is something that was basically unknown at the time when the 14th Amendment was adopted, which is illegal immigration,&#8221; Alito said. &#8220;So how do we deal with that situation when we have a general rule?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Sauer responded by agreeing with Alito, saying that &#8220;illegal immigration did not exist [then],&#8221; and &#8220;the problem of temporary visitors didn&#8217;t exist.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Sauer pointed to &#8220;commentators&#8221; from 1881 to 1922 who, he claimed, were &#8220;uniformly saying the children of temporary visitors are not included.&#8221; He argued that this logic &#8220;naturally extends&#8221; to those who enter the country illegally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Justice Elena Kagan challenged Sauer&#8217;s argument on immigration, saying his arguments in his brief did not focus on &#8220;illegal immigration.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Most of your brief is about people who are just temporarily in the country where there was quite clearly an experience of an understanding that there were going to be temporary inhabitants,&#8221; Kagan said. &#8220;And your whole theory of the case is built on that group.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;You don&#8217;t get to talking about undocumented persons until quite later, and at much lesser &#8230; I think it&#8217;s like 10 pages to three pages or something like that,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Sauer began his arguments by arguing that the longstanding understanding of the 14th Amendment is incorrect.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;The citizenship clause was adopted just after the Civil War to grant citizenship to the newly freed slaves and their children whose allegiance to the United States had been established by generations of domicile. Here, it did not grant citizenship to the children of temporary visitors or illegal aliens who have no such allegiance,&#8221; he said.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In his opening statements, Sauer laid out one of the Trump administration&#8217;s key arguments about why birthright citizenship should not be extended to the children of undocumented immigrants, claiming that if it remains &#8220;unrestricted&#8221; it will continue to be a &#8220;pull factor for illegal immigration&#8221; and would &#8220;reward&#8221; immigrants who violate immigration laws.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;It has spawned a sprawling industry of birth tourism as uncounted thousands of foreigners from potentially hostile nations have flocked to give birth in the United States in recent decades, creating a whole generation of American citizens abroad with no meaningful ties to the United States,&#8221; Sauer said.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In a statement this morning, ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero addressed Trump&#8217;s attendance at the proceedings, saying he will &#8220;watch the ACLU school him in the meaning of the Constitution and birthright citizenship.&#8221;<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Any effort to distract from the gravity and importance of this case will not succeed. 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,&#8221;<!-- -->\u00a0<!-- -->he said.<!-- -->\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Although the proceedings should provide a sense of how interested the judges are in Trump&#8217;s reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment, a ruling in the case isn&#8217;t expected until the end of June.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \"><em class=\" \">This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.com\/US\/oral-arguments-underway-supreme-courts-landmark-birthright-citizenship\/story?id=131590625\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Solicitor General D. John Sauer got a somewhat frosty reception from at least two key Supreme Court Justices &#8212; Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":348735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2052,17880,7441,1750,13679,10839,19844,609,22811,4914,173],"class_list":["post-348732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ambassadors","tag-amy-coney-barrett","tag-chief-justice","tag-director","tag-john-roberts","tag-john-sauer","tag-ketanji-brown-jackson","tag-president","tag-solicitor","tag-trump-administration","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348732"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":348734,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348732\/revisions\/348734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}