Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order Nationwide
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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On Jan. 23, District Judge John C. Coughenour of the Western District of Washington at Seattle granted an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order by the attorneys general of Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon, enjoining President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship. Trump’s executive order states that citizenship is not automatically extended to those born on American soil and that it is instead contingent on the citizenship status of a child’s parents. In their emergency motion, the plaintiffs alleged that Trump’s order violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to all children born on U.S. soil “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
The restraining order is to remain in effect for 14 days and is to be enforced nationwide.
During a hearing on the matter, Judge Coughenour said of Trump’s executive order, “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.”
Read the decision here or below:
