Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference with members of the Congressional Border Security Caucus to introduce the Birthright Citizenship Act at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center on Jan. 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
THE DAILY SIGNAL | Published January 24, 2025

THE CENTER SQUARE—A federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s recent executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.

Trump signed the executive order earlier this week, and almost immediately a coalition of nearly two dozen states filed a series of lawsuits to block the order.

“The president’s executive order attempting to rescind birthright citizenship is blatantly unconstitutional and quite frankly, un-American,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, one of those who joined one of the lawsuits.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour issued the ruling, which blocks Trump’s order until a final ruling is made. Coughenour, who was appointed by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981, blasted the ruling as unconstitutional, though.

The order could make it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In question is the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

As The Center Square previously reported, supporters of Trump’s order argue the 14th Amendment has been twisted and was meant to apply to recently freed slaves and American citizens, not illegal immigrants who they say are taking advantage of the system.

Backers of Trump’s order say the 14th Amendment has been abused, pointing to tourists and illegal immigrants who come to the U.S. explicitly to have children.

“The Framers of the 14th Amendment would be appalled at how abused the notion of ‘birthright citizenship’ is today,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., said in a statement. “The privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift. It should not be granted to those who abuse our laws.”

 

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SOURCE: www.dailysignal.com

RELATED: Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order

NEWSMAX | Published January 24, 2025

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship regardless of the parents’ immigration status.

According to Reuters, Trump quickly responded by saying his administration will appeal the decision, a cornerstone of his planned efforts to rein in illegal immigration.

U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ruled in the case brought by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, which argue the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court case law have cemented birthright citizenship.

The case is one of five lawsuits being brought by 22 states and a number of immigrants rights groups across the country. The suits include personal testimonies from attorneys general who are U.S. citizens by birthright, and names pregnant women who are afraid their children won’t become U.S. citizens.

Signed by Trump on Inauguration Day, the order is slated to take effect on Feb. 19. It could affect hundreds of thousands of people born in the country, according to one of the lawsuits. In 2022, there were about 255,000 births of citizen children to mothers living in the country illegally and about 153,000 births to two such parents, according to the four-state suit filed in Seattle.

The U.S. is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship — the principle of jus soli or “right of the soil” — is applied. Most are in the Americas, and Canada and Mexico are among them.

The lawsuits argue that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship for people born and naturalized in the U.S., and states have been interpreting the amendment that way for a century.

Ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, the amendment says: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Trump’s order asserts that the children of noncitizens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and orders federal agencies to not recognize citizenship for children who don’t have at least one parent who is a citizen.

A key case involving birthright citizenship unfolded in 1898. The Supreme Court held that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a U.S. citizen because he was born in the country. After a trip abroad, he faced being denied reentry by the federal government on the grounds that he wasn’t a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act.

But some advocates of immigration restrictions have argued that case clearly applied to children born to parents who were both legal immigrants. They say it’s less clear whether it applies to children born to parents living in the country illegally.

Trump’s executive order prompted attorneys general to share their personal connections to birthright citizenship. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, for instance, a U.S. citizen by birthright and the nation’s first Chinese American elected attorney general, said the lawsuit was personal for him.

“There is no legitimate legal debate on this question. But the fact that Trump is dead wrong will not prevent him from inflicting serious harm right now on American families like my own,” Tong said this week.

One of the lawsuits aimed at blocking the executive order includes the case of a pregnant woman, identified as “Carmen,” who is not a citizen but has lived in the United States for more than 15 years and has a pending visa application that could lead to permanent residency status.

“Stripping children of the ‘priceless treasure’ of citizenship is a grave injury,” the suit says. “It denies them the full membership in U.S. society to which they are entitled.”

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SOURCE: www.newsmax.com

 

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