ISTANBUL

A federal appeals court has declined to revive US President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship, saying the Justice Department failed to show it would likely succeed in its appeal, NBC News reported.

According to the report, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday against the Trump administration’s request for an emergency stay, leaving in place a lower court’s decision blocking the order.

The ruling leaves open the possibility of an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, NBC said. The Trump administration is likely hoping for a favorable ruling from the court, which boasts a conservative majority including three justices appointed by Trump during his first term.

Trump’s policy aimed to deny citizenship to children born in the US if their mothers were in the country unlawfully and their fathers were neither citizens nor permanent residents.

In the United States, birthright citizenship is guaranteed under the Constitution, in the 14th amendment. Trump’s move to deny a constitutional right, established by over 100 years of Supreme Court precedents, merely by issuing an executive order came under sharp criticism from legal scholars.