US President Donald Trump

An appeals court upheld an order on Wednesday blocking President Donald Trump from ending birthright citizenship for children whose parents are in the United States illegally.

The emergency request was filed by the Justice Department in an attempt to clear the path for Trump’s executive order, which has been blocked by judges in lower district courts since it was issued in January.

Trump’s order attempts to redefine the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which decrees that anyone born on US soil is a citizen.

Among the most controversial of Trump’s executive orders, it claims the right does not apply to the children of anyone other than permanent residents and citizens.

The request was denied by a panel of three judges from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, who were nominated by Trump and former presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush.

Trump’s executive order was due to come into effect by February 19 but was first blocked temporarily by a federal judge in January and the timeframe has since been extended.

His orders have faced growing pushback from the courts, with about a dozen injunctions issued so far from among some 40 lawsuits.