Supreme Court takes up Trump birthright appeal

What happened

The Supreme Court yesterday said it will consider President Donald Trump's emergency request to lift or limit nationwide injunctions blocking his order to deny citizenship to the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants and temporary residents. Three federal judges have halted Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship, enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, and appellate courts have declined to intercede.

Who said what

By taking on such a weighty issue "at this stage — before it has been fully aired" in lower courts, The Wall Street Journal said, the Supreme Court is "setting the stage for a decisive ruling" on Trump's authority to "unilaterally alter an age-old understanding of a fundamental right provided by the Constitution." The oral arguments are expected to focus more narrowly on the "scope of the nationwide orders," not the "constitutionality of the administration's proposal," The Washington Post said. But the "justices probably will find it hard to avoid that underlying issue," The Associated Press said. 

Trump said he was "so happy" the court had agreed to hear his appeal, adding that the case was "so misunderstood" and "birthright citizenship is about slavery." New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said a constitutional right like birthright citizenship "cannot be turned on or off at the whims of a single man."

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What next?

The Supreme Court left the nationwide blocks on Trump's order intact at least until its May 15 hearing.