Federal judge blocks Donald Trump’s latest bid to curb first-born citizenship, even as US proposes new passport rules | Today’s news
A US federal judge on Wednesday (local time) blocked President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to limit birthright citizenship, issuing a preliminary injunction against an executive order issued after the Supreme Court struck down his previous attempts last year.
U.S. District Judge Deborah L Boardman in Maryland issued the injunction pending resolution of a class-action lawsuit filed by immigrant families and advocacy groups.
“The Supreme Court has spoken: Children in a certified class are ‘citizens at birth,'” Boardman wrote in Wednesday’s ruling, according to The Associated Press.
Trump’s ‘Birth Tourism’ Executive Order
In August, Trump signed an executive order that expands the categories of noncitizen parents whose children would be ineligible for citizenship, likely illegal for a nationwide class of families whose legal status has already been disputed in earlier lawsuits. The new exclusions targeted what the Trump administration described as “birth tourism” and included anyone involved in a “commercial transaction to arrange” a birth in the US.
It defined birth tourism as someone who enters the United States on a “nonimmigrant visa for the purpose of giving birth on American soil.”
What did the lawsuit say?
The lawsuit was filed by the affected families and the organizations that represent them, arguing that the uncertainty surrounding the order has caused them confusion and fear.
We Are CASA, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection joined the lawsuit.
According to The Associated Press, petitioners told the court that the executive branch has taken a broad view of who qualifies as an enemy alien, sometimes relying on speculation or misinformation to make its decision.
Others said they feared their children would be denied citizenship because a parent’s extended family member was connected to a gang in their home country, even though the parents were not gang members.
Judge Boardman, appointed by former President Joe Biden, wrote in her order that the administration had advanced a “distorted interpretation” of the Supreme Court decision striking down Trump’s original executive order restricting birthrights. She said the president’s latest action would deny status to members of a class she has already confirmed applies to children of noncitizen parents who are not in the U.S. legally or who are in the country on temporary visas.
Trump’s war on birthright citizenship
Birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that anyone born within the territory of the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction is automatically a U.S. citizen, regardless of the immigration status of their parents.
Republicans, including President Trump, have long opposed birthright citizenship, saying it encourages illegal immigration to the US. The Maryland court order comes hours after it was announced that the Trump administration had proposed changes to require parents and legal guardians to provide proof of their own citizenship or immigration status when applying for U.S. passports for their children in an effort to limit birthright citizenship.
