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Judge Blocks Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order
A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump's executive order denying US citizenship to children of parents living in the country illegally, calling it "blatantly unconstitutional".
UNITED STATES 07.10.2020 Photo by Michael Dougherty U.S. Southern Command
A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's executive order denying U.S. citizenship to children of parents living in the country illegally. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour called the order "blatantly unconstitutional" during the first hearing in a multi-state effort challenging the order.
The 14th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees citizenship to those born on U.S. soil, a measure ratified in 1868 to ensure citizenship for former slaves after the Civil War. Trump's order, issued just after being sworn in for his second term, would deny citizenship to those born after Feb. 19 whose parents are in the country illegally.
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The order also forbids U.S. agencies from issuing any document or accepting any state document recognizing citizenship for such children. This move drew immediate legal challenges across the country, with at least five lawsuits being brought by 22 states and a number of immigrants' rights groups.
Coughenour's decision prevents the Trump administration from implementing the executive order for 14 days. The parties will submit further arguments about the merits of Trump's order, with a hearing scheduled for Feb. 6 to decide whether to block it long term.
Arguing for the states, Washington assistant attorney general Lane Polozola called Trump's assertion that children of noncitizens are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States "absurd." Polozola noted that neither those who have immigrated illegally nor their children are immune from U.S. law.
Washington Attorney General Nick Brown expressed no surprise at Coughenour's decision, citing the Citizenship Clause's origins in the Supreme Court's 1857 Dred Scott decision. Brown emphasized that birthright citizenship has been the law of the land for generations.
The case has personal significance for some attorneys general, including Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a U.S. citizen by birthright and the nation's first Chinese American elected attorney general. Tong praised Coughenour's decision, stating that Trump's order would inflict harm on American families like his own.
