A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday let stand an order blocking President Donald Trump from curtailing automatic birthright citizenship nationwide as part of the Republican's hardline crackdown on immigration and illegal border crossings.

The Trump administration went to the Supreme Court after a panel of judges at a D.C.-based federal appeals court ruled 2-1 to uphold the lower court’s ruling shielding Dellinger, whom former President Joe Biden appointed to a five-year term at the Office of Special Counsel, which handles issues like protecting whistleblowers against retaliation.

A three-panel appeals court on Wednesday continued to block the Trump administration from ending birthright citizenship for children of immigrants, setting up a likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.