Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Xenophobic Attack on Birthright Citizenship
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A Maryland federal judge has courageously halted President Trump’s latest executive order, which sought to undermine the 14th Amendment and strip citizenship from children born in the U.S., reaffirming the constitutional rights of immigrant families.
A U.S. District Judge in Maryland has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s most recent executive order, which represented yet another assault on immigrant communities by seeking to restrict birthright citizenship. Judge Deborah L. Boardman, a Biden appointee, granted a preliminary injunction that will remain in effect until a class-action lawsuit filed by immigrant families and advocacy groups is resolved, standing up for the rights of the marginalized.
Boardman emphasized that the Supreme Court has already affirmed that children in the certified class are “citizens at birth,” highlighting that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, with only narrow exceptions. This ruling is a direct rebuke to the administration’s ongoing attempts to erode constitutional protections for immigrants.
Trump’s order, issued in August, cynically defined “birth tourism” as entering the United States on a non-immigrant visa with the purpose of giving birth, and sought to deny citizenship to children whose parents engaged in a so-called commercial transaction to obtain birthright citizenship or who were linked to foreign embassies, organizations, or designated “alien enemies.” Critics rightfully argued that the language was dangerously broad, threatening to ensnare families with even the most tenuous foreign ties or those who simply bought airfare and later became pregnant.
Plaintiffs, including We Are CASA, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, argued that the administration’s discriminatory interpretation relied on baseless speculation and could strip children of their fundamental constitutional rights.
The White House’s legal team claimed the injunction was premature and that agencies would follow appropriate guidance, but the judge rejected these hollow assurances, noting that the order explicitly commands agencies to deny citizenship documents to broad categories of children, regardless of any future guidance.
"The White House must recognize it will not succeed in stripping children of their right to citizenship, evading binding court decisions or placing the president’s anti-immigrant agenda above the Constitution," said Shana Khader, legal director at We Are CASA.
The administration, once again, did not immediately comment on the ruling, continuing its pattern of silence in the face of judicial rebuke.