A federal judge entered a preliminary injunction, barring enforcement of President Donald Trump's birthright citizenship executive order on Wednesday. The order comes as President Trump is trying to end birthright citizenship in the U.S.
A federal judge in January stopped President Trump's executive order from going into effect. Five pregnant women without legal immigration status, along with the organizations CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, are the plaintiffs in this particular case.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman had tough questions for both sides but noted she thought there was a "strong likelihood" the plaintiffs would be able to successfully argue the executive order is plainly unconstitutional.
Trump's order "conflicts with the plain language of the 14th Amendment contradicts 125-year-old, binding Supreme Court precedent, and runs counter to our nation's 250-year history of citizenship by birth," she said. "The United States Supreme Court has resoundingly rejected the president's interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. In fact, no court in the country has ever endorsed the president's interpretation. This court will not be the first."
The lawyer representing Trump's Department of Justice said he was not authorized to declare whether the government would appeal the ruling. The Justice Department will now have 60 days to make that determination
Several other cases are pending in separate federal courts.
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President Trump's executive order was scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 19. The order would not impact the legal status of children born in the U.S. prior to Feb. 19, 2025. Currently, virtually all children born in the U.S. are granted citizenship regardless of their parents' immigration status; however, the order would revoke citizenship for children of those in the U.S. illegally.
The plaintiffs argue that birthright citizenship is a right for all people born in the U.S. under the 14th Amendment, which was enacted in 1868. The first section of the 14th Amendment states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Lawyers from Trump's Department of Justice argued that the president was within his rights to issue the EO because of a clause in the 14th Amendment that says citizenship is only granted to those "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," prompting lengthy arguments about the history and meaning of that phrase.
The plaintiffs, conversely, suggested nothing in that phrase could override centuries of historical and legal precedent, and the judge appeared inclined to agree.
