A federal judge in Maryland blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship.
Judge Deborah Boardman of the U.S. District Court in Maryland ruled that Trump’s order would violate the Constitution by denying U.S. citizenship to the future children of five pregnant immigrants.
“Today, virtually every baby born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen upon birth,” Boardman said, as per Reuters. “That is the law and tradition of our country. That law and tradition are and will remain the status quo pending the resolution of this case.”
“The principle of birthright citizenship is a foundation of our national democracy, is woven throughout the laws of our nation, and has shaped a shared sense of national belonging for generation after generation of citizens,” the plaintiffs argued.
The Trump administration asserted that the Constitution “does not harbor a windfall clause granting American citizenship to, inter alia: the children of those who have circumvented (or outright defied) federal immigration laws.”
Boardman is the second judge to block the order. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, said the executive order was “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that is a constitutional order,” the judge said. “It boggles my mind.”
Amidst challenges to Trump’s order, eighteen Republican attorneys general, led by Iowa AG Brenna Bird, filed an amicus brief in an effort to push back against the order’s opposition.
Addressing the lawsuits filed against Trump’s order, the brief says, “Plaintiffs’ incorrect interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the United States is a strong incentive for illegal immigration and birth tourism in the hope of providing children with citizenship.”
“Removing the incentive for illegal aliens to give birth in America will reduce illegal immigration. In turn, this will reduce States’ costs from illegal immigration and births by illegal aliens,” the filing adds. “Because the Executive Order is constitutional and vital, the Amici States urge the Court to deny a preliminary injunction.”
