The United States Supreme Court has ruled against an executive order issued by President Donald Trump aimed at restricting birthright citizenship. The apex court's ruling is being viewed as a major defeat for President Trump.

In a 6-3 vote on Tuesday, the Supreme Court justices upheld a lower court's decision that had previously blocked Trump's executive order.

Trump’s order had directed US agencies to deny citizenship recognition to children born in the United States unless at least one parent was a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident.

President Trump has repeatedly tested the boundaries of presidential authority in both domestic and foreign policy. As part of a hardline crackdown on both legal and illegal immigration, he issued this executive order on the first day of his second term last year.

This ruling marks the second time this year that the court has overturned a major policy initiative by Trump. Earlier in February, the court struck down his sweeping global tariffs.

According to a BBC report, the majority opinion was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, who stated that children born in the United States to parents residing illegally or temporarily in the country are "birthright citizens" under the US Constitution.

In the ruling, the Chief Justice referenced the 14th Amendment, which was enacted after the American Civil War to resolve the citizenship status of formerly enslaved people born in the United States.

"Citizenship was then, and remains now, the right to have rights—to participate fully in our political community," Chief Justice Roberts wrote. "The framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every human being born free on this soil.' We uphold that promise today."

Transgender Sports Ban Upheld
In a separate ruling, however, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on transgender women participating in female sports at schools and colleges—a decision President Donald Trump hailed as a "big win."

The Supreme Court ruled that states have the authority to ban transgender women from competing in female sports divisions at schools and colleges.

The court reached this decision after hearing cases filed by students from two different states who had challenged the restrictions placed on their participation.

The states of Idaho and West Virginia had enacted laws requiring athletes on public school and college sports teams to compete according to their biological sex registered at birth.