Trump's 'blatantly unconstitutional' order to end automatic birthright citizenship blocked by judge

23 January 2025, 20:30

Donald Trump's attempt to overhaul the immigration system suffered a setback on Thursday when a judge blocked a presidential order to halt birthright citizenship.

Trump issued an executive order this week to remove the right of children born to people living in the US illegally or temporarily to become citizens - which was due to come into force in less than a month.

The order was challenged by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, which argue the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court case law have cemented birthright citizenship.

US District Judge John C Coughenour ruled that the order was "blatantly unconstitutional."

He added: “We look back in history and say ‘where were the judges, where were the lawyers?’”.

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"Frankly I have difficulty finding that a member of the bar can state confidently that this is a constitutional order."

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 US citizens by birthright, and names pregnant women who are afraid their children will not become US citizens.

Signed by Mr Trump on Inauguration Day, the order was slated to take effect on February 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 US 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 US Constitution guarantees citizenship for people born and naturalised in the US, 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 naturalised in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Mr 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 recognise citizenship for children who don't have at least one parent who is a citizen.

The amendment was last challenged in 1898 - 127 years ago - when the US Supreme Court ruled in favour of birthright citizenship.

But immigration restriction argue that the custom of birthright citizenship encourages illegal immigration.