Conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch seemed to doubt the arguments of Solicitor General John Sauer in his attempt to strike down birthright citizenship in the U.S.
During oral arguments on Wednesday, Sauer pointed to "domicile" as the lynch pin to undermining an idea that the 14th Amendment affords birthright citizenship to the children of most non-citizens who are born on U.S. soil.
"So if somebody showed up here in 1868 and established domicile, that was perfectly fine without respect to anything, any immigration laws," Gorsuch said. "And so why wouldn't we, even if we were to apply your own test, come to the conclusion that the fact that someone might be illegal is immaterial?"
"I would first cite Wong Kim Ark on that point," Sauer replied, pointing to an 1898 case that was largely thought to codify birthright citizenship.
"Well, I'm not sure how much you want to rely on Wong Kim," a skeptical Gorsuch shot back.
All Rise News editor Adam Klasfeld saw the exchange as bad news for the Trump administration.
"He cuttingly refers to the Trump admin's reliance on 'Roman law sources,'" Klasfeld noted of Gorsuch. "Looking predictably bad for Trump."
Fox News contributor Jonathon Turley called Gorsuch's remark "worrisome."