A federal judge said President Donald Trump’s order against birthright citizenship was “blatantly unconstitutional” and temporarily blocked it on Thursday.
Trump issued an executive order ending birthright citizenship in order to stop the practice of noncitizens coming to the U.S., legally or illegally, to obtain U.S. citizenship for a child born in the country. Chinese nationals have made a business of helping pregnant Chinese mothers visit the U.S. just to ensure that their children obtain U.S. citizenship.
‘Births cannot be paused while the court considers this case.’
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour heard arguments made by Trump administration attorneys but said it “boggles the mind” to defend the order’s constitutionality. He went on to say that he had never seen a case where an order was as clearly unconstitutional as this one, in four decades of being a judge. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.”
Washington assistant attorney general Lane Polozola argued that it was “absurd” to say children born in the U.S. to illegal alien parents were not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. and also laid out the practical consequences of the order.
“The executive order will impact hundreds of thousands of citizens nationwide who will lose their citizenship under this new rule,” Polozola said. “Births cannot be paused while the court considers this case.”
The ACLU and attorneys general from 18 states have sued to stop the executive order on birthright citizenship.
Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown issued a statement praising the decision.
“Trump’s birthright citizenship EO is halted for now,” he wrote on social media. “Today a judge granted our temporary restraining order nationwide, saying he had not seen an order this blatantly unconstitutional in 40 years on the bench. We’ll continue fighting for Washingtonians’ freedoms.”
Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn. disagreed.
“The whole idea of birthright citizenship is based on a gross misinterpretation of the 14th Amendment,” he wrote. “The luck of being born on U.S. soil should not alone make someone a citizen.”
Coughenour was appointed to the court by Ronald Reagan in 1981.
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Birthright citizenship struck down, Trump order unconstitutional, Trump order struck down, Judge coughenour, Politics
