The The Trump administration told the Supreme Court that the idea was “wrong” and had become widespread, with destructive consequences.

CNN was first to report.

“The lower court’s decisions invalidated a policy of paramount importance to the President and his administration, undermining our border security,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer, the administration’s top appellate lawyer, told the Supreme Court in the appeal, which was obtained by CNN.

“These decisions grant, without legal justification, the privilege of American citizenship to hundreds of thousands of people who were ineligible,” Sauer wrote.

While the Supreme Court issued an important decision in June on birthright citizenship, technically that case focused on a more procedural question: how much power lower courts had to stop a policy implemented by a president.

A 6-3 majority on the court limited, but did not entirely rule out, the courts’ power to block such policies.

That decision prompted states and individuals challenging Trump's birthright order to rush to file new cases seeking to overturn the policy by other means, including class-action lawsuits.

The Supreme Court implicitly allowed those other types of nationwide lockdowns to continue.

A series of new rulings have kept Trump's policy on hold, and the administration is now asking judges to take up those cases to settle the matter once and for all.

Birthright citizenship is protected by the Constitution

Section 1 of the 14th Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

It’s not just a legal doctrine; it’s fundamental to our identity as a nation. It reflects that all children born in this country belong to it and are equal members of our national community, regardless of who their parents are.

What does Trump’s executive order seek with respect to birthright citizenship?

Executive Order 14160 seeks to deny citizenship to any baby born in the United States whose mother is in the country “illegally” or “legally but temporarily” and whose father “is neither a United States citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.”

In other words, under this order, children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and children of parents residing in the country with temporary legal authorization, such as student and work visas, would not be considered U.S. citizens, according to the Brennan Center for Justice in an explanation of the right to birthright citizenship.