‘Blatantly Unconstitutional’: US Court Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Birth Right Citizenship Order

<p>A federal judge blocked United States President Donald Trump&rsquo;s executive order which denies US citizenship to children of parents living in the country illegally, calling it &ldquo;blatantly unconstitutional&rdquo; during the initial hearing of a multi-state effort challenging the order.</p>
<p>This was one of the first executive orders Trump issued after being sworn in for his second term on Monday, in an effort to curb unlawful immigration. As per the Associated Press (AP) report, the order states that citizenship would be denied to those born after February 19, 2025, whose parents are in the United States illegally. US agencies are also forbidden from issuing any document or accepting any state document which recognises the citizenship of such children.</p>
<p>According to AP, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution promises citizenship to those born on US soil, a measure ratified in 1868 to ensure citizenship for former slaves after the Civil War. &nbsp;</p>
<p>There were immediate negative legal challenges nationwide, and 22 states and several immigrant rights groups filed at least five lawsuits. The first hearing was held for a lawsuit brought by Washington, Arizona, Oregon, and Illinois.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can&rsquo;t remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is,&rdquo; US District Judge John Coughenour told a Justice Department attorney, as per the report. &ldquo;This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.&rdquo;</p>
<p>On Thursday, the decision taken would prevent the Trump administration from taking any steps to implement the executive order for 14 days. Meanwhile, the parties will submit further arguments about the merits of Trump&rsquo;s order.</p>
<p>Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee, grilled the Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney, Brett Shumate, on whether Shumate personally believed the order was constitutional. To which Shumate assured that he &ldquo;absolutely&rdquo; believed in it.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order,&rdquo; Coughenour was quoted by AP.</p>
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<p>Later, the DOJ in a statement said that it would &ldquo;vigorously defend&rdquo; the president&rsquo;s executive order, which it said &ldquo;correctly interprets the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution.&rdquo; The department said that it was ready to present all its merits to the Court and the American people who were &ldquo;desperate&rdquo; to see the nation&rsquo;s law being enforced.</p>
<p>As per the AP report, Trump&rsquo;s order asserts that children of non-citizens are not subject to US jurisdiction and are therefore ineligible for citizenship.</p>
<p>Arguing on behalf of the states on Thursday, Washington Assistant Attorney General Lane Polozola called the order &ldquo;absurd,&rdquo; pointing out that neither undocumented immigrants nor their children are exempt from US law.</p>
<p>Polozola further argued that a restraining order was justified, noting that the executive order would immediately force states to spend millions on overhauling health care and benefits systems to reevaluate applicants’ citizenship status.</p>
<p>Washington Attorney General Nick Brown was quoted as saying, &ldquo;Babies are being born today, tomorrow, every day, all across this country, and so we had to act now&rdquo;. He added that it has been &ldquo;the law of the land for generations, that you are an American citizen if you are born on American soil, period.&rdquo;</p>
<p>However, some advocates for immigration restrictions have argued that the case applied to children born to parents who were both legal immigrants. They contend that it is less certain whether the same principle applies to children born to parents living in the country illegally.</p>