U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour has temporarily blocked an executive order from President Donald J. Trump ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens and other migrants. The ruling, issued in Seattle, Washington, on Thursday, marks the beginning of what is anticipated to be a prolonged legal battle over the order’s constitutionality.
Judge Coughenour alleged the order is “blatantly unconstitutional” during a court session where attorneys from Washington state and the Department of Justice presented arguments. “I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that is a constitutional order,” he told the Trump administration’s attorney, adding: “It boggles my mind.”
The 14th Amendment—ratified in 1868—states, “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.” Originally intended to ensure the citizenship of freed slaves, many argue it was never meant to grant citizenship to absolutely anyone born on U.S. soil, stressing the “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” language. For instance, birthright citizenship does not apply to the children of foreign diplomats, and Native Americans did not receive citizenship until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Illinois brought the case against President Trump’s order after Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and his counterparts filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, swiftly followed by a request for a temporary restraining order to halt the executive action. Another group of 18 states has initiated a similar lawsuit in Massachusetts, though they have not yet sought a preliminary injunction.
