WASHINGTON

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday on nationwide injunctions in the birthright citizenship case.

Trump issued an executive order shortly after he assumed office Jan. 20 that sought to end the long-standing practice of granting citizenship to anyone born on US territory whose mother was an undocumented immigrant. That was immediately met with legal challenges that resulted in successive court orders from federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington that prohibit the order from being implemented.

It is widely considered that the president does not have the power to unilaterally change the law.

Under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, any person born within the territory of the US is an American citizen.

US Solicitor General D. John Sauer, arguing for the administration, told the court that nationwide injunctions are a growing and bipartisan problem.

"This is a bipartisan problem that has now spanned the last five presidential administrations," he said.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor said Trump's order violates Supreme Court precedents.

"The argument here is that the president is violating an established, not just one, but by my count, four established Supreme Court precedents," she said.

She said if the order goes into effect, thousands of children would be born in the US without citizenship, rendering some "stateless" because of policies in the home countries of the parents.

Justice Elena Kagan said if the administration keeps losing in lower courts and chooses not to appeal to the Supreme Court, it is hard to see how the court can rule on the constitutionality of the order.

"I’m suggesting that in a case in which the government is losing constantly, there’s nobody else who’s going to appeal. They’re winning. It’s up to you to decide whether to take this case to us. If I were in your shoes, there is no way I’d approach the Supreme Court with this case. So, you just keep on losing in the lower courts, and what’s supposed to happen to prevent that?" asked Kagan.

Sauer told Kagan that he "respectfully" disagrees with that forecast of the merits.

Before the arguments began, Trump said that the current policy shows the US is a "stupid country."

"Big case today in the United States Supreme Court. Birthright Citizenship was not meant for people taking vacations to become permanent Citizens of the United States of America, and bringing their families with them, all the time laughing at the “SUCKERS” that we are!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court to advocate for immigrants' rights, holding signs that included: "American born children are American children."