The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow a ban on birthright citizenship in about half of the country for children born to undocumented immigrants and foreign visitors.

The Trump administration is pushing for the the U.S. Supreme Court to allow some restrictions on birthright citizenship even as legal battles continue over President Donald Trump’s orders to end what has long been seen as a constitutional promise.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump took the fight over his attempt to restrict automatic U.S. birthright citizenship to the Supreme Court on Thursday as the Republican president's administration asked the justices to narrow a judicial block imposed on this key element of his hardline approach toward immigration.

President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to prop up a January executive order ending birthright citizenship in the United States. The order, which would stop the practice of granting citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants and other noncitizens born in the U.

Trump’s executive order, signed on January 20 during his return to office, directs federal agencies to deny U.S. citizenship to children born on American soil unless at least one parent is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.

Trump has said he thinks the Supreme Court will let him restrict birthright citizenship to bolster security along the southern border.

Judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington have issued nationwide orders blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban birthright citizenship.

President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court in a series of emergency appeals to allow him to move forward with plans to end birthright citizenship, elevating a fringe legal theory that several lower courts have resoundingly rejected.