A federal judge on Wednesday stopped the Trump administration from carrying out a new executive order that limits who can get birthright citizenship.This order was issued by President Donald Trump after the U.S.Supreme Court had rejected his earlier attempt to do the same.
U.S.
District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, gave a court order, called a preliminary injunction, at the request of groups fighting for immigrant rights.These groups had previously asked her to stop the Trump administration from enforcing his first 2025 order that tried to limit birthright citizenship.
The U.S.
Supreme Court had previously ruled against Trump’s first effort to end birthright citizenship for children whose parents were not American citizens or lawful permanent residents, known as green card holders.The court said this would break the 14th Amendment of the U.S.Constitution, which states that anyone born in the U.S.is a citizen, as long as they are subject to its jurisdiction.
After the Supreme Court’s decision, Trump signed a new order on August 6.
This order focused on “birth tourism,” where women travel to the U.S.to give birth so their children can automatically become citizens.
The order also said children would not be citizens if one of their parents works for a foreign government in the U.S., commits fraud, or uses illegal means to get citizenship, or if the parent is considered an “alien enemy.”
After signing the order, lawyers representing babies who might lose their citizenship under Trump’s 2025 plan asked Judge Boardman to stop the enforcement of the new order and ensure the babies remained citizens.
The judge, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, agreed to stop the order and said it was almost certainly unconstitutional because the Supreme Court had already ruled that the children in the lawsuit are citizens at birth.
She wrote, “The Supreme Court has spoken: Children in the certified class are ‘citizens at birth.'”
Her order told government agencies, including the U.S.
Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Social Security Administration, not to take any action that could interfere with, deny, or fail to recognize the citizenship of children in the class action.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The administration said the lawsuit was too early.
The plaintiffs included groups like CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, which had convinced Judge Boardman to block Trump’s first order before the Supreme Court decision.
Conchita Cruz, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, said, “Immigrant families should not have to come back to court to defend the rights of their U.S.-born children and others whose citizenship is being questioned by a new executive order.”
The Justice Department argued that an injunction wasn’t appropriate because Trump’s order was more specific than the previous one the plaintiffs had sued over.
They also said the lawsuit was premature, as federal agencies had not yet released detailed guidance explaining how the president’s order would be applied, and they expected to do so by Saturday.The administration said any legal challenges should wait until then.
But Judge Boardman disagreed.
She said that although the Justice Department claimed the order was only for future cases, the order clearly applies to all children who meet the criteria, no matter when they were born.She wrote, “This Court must, once again, preliminarily enjoin enforcement of the President’s most recent attempt to strip the right to citizenship from them.”
While she paused the enforcement of Trump’s order, she said agencies could still prepare guidance on how to carry out the order.
Reuters reported that the U.S.
State Department had drafted proposed guidance requiring parents to provide proof of their own citizenship or immigration status when applying for passports for their children to implement the executive order.
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