US judge blocks Trump’s latest bid
A US federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, issuing a preliminary injunction against an executive order targeting what the administration calls “birth tourism.”
US District Judge Deborah L. Boardman of Maryland issued the order Wednesday while a class-action lawsuit filed by immigrant families and advocacy groups is pending.
In her ruling, Boardman said the Supreme Court had already established that children covered by the case are citizens at birth.
Birthright citizenship is guaranteed under the US Constitution to people born on American soil, with limited exceptions. The right stems from the 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868.
Trump has repeatedly sought to end or restrict the practice. His earlier executive order sought to deny citizenship to children born to people who are in the US illegally or temporarily, but the Supreme Court struck down that effort in June.
In August, Trump issued a narrower order seeking to restrict automatic citizenship for certain children, including those born to parents with links to foreign embassies or organizations and people classified as “alien enemies.”
The latest order also targeted “birth tourism,” which the administration described as entering the US on a nonimmigrant visa specifically to give birth there.
Families challenging the order argued that its broad provisions could leave children at risk of being denied citizenship based on circumstances involving their parents or extended family members.
The administration argued that blocking the order was premature, saying federal agencies would issue appropriate guidance on how it would be enforced.
Boardman rejected that argument, saying the order itself directs agencies to deny citizenship documents to broad categories of children regardless of future guidance.
The lawsuit was filed with support from We Are CASA, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
The White House did not immediately comment on the ruling.
