A federal judge in Seattle has issued a temporary restraining order to block President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, heard a request from four Democratic-led states to stop the executive order that aims to limit birthright citizenship. This citizenship has been long guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to individuals with at least one parent who is a United States citizen or permanent resident. Judge Coughenour stated that the executive order is clearly unconstitutional and expressed disbelief that a member of the bar could deem it constitutional.
During the hearing, DOJ attorney Brett Shumate argued that there was no imminent harm from the order, urging the court to delay any immediate decisions. However, Lane Polozola, representing the attorneys general, argued that the executive order attempts to alter a constitutional provision that has been settled by a century of legal precedent. Judge Coughenour was convinced and signed the temporary restraining order, considering a long-term injunction in the coming weeks.
Trump’s executive order seeks to reinterpret the 14th Amendment by arguing that a child born in the U.S. to an undocumented mother cannot receive citizenship unless the father is a citizen or permanent resident. The lawsuit brought by attorneys general from Arizona, Oregon, Washington, and Illinois argues that the policy would unlawfully deny citizenship to at least 150,000 newborn children each year, causing irreparable harm. The lawsuit claims that children denied citizenship would lose essential rights and be subjected to a life of instability.
The executive order challenges the principle of jus soli, or “right of the soil,” which is followed by the U.S. and other countries like Canada and Mexico. This principle was codified in the 14th Amendment after the Civil War, countering the Dred Scott decision that denied citizenship to African Americans. The Supreme Court has previously upheld birthright citizenship, notably in an 1898 case involving a San Francisco-born son of Chinese immigrants.
The states’ lawsuit argues that nothing in the Constitution allows the President or federal agencies to impose conditions on citizenship for those born in the U.S. Legal scholars doubt the legality of Trump’s executive order, but the case could lead to a prolonged legal battle reaching the Supreme Court.