Greenbelt, Maryland. As the lawsuit moves through the courts, a federal judge on Wednesday placed President Donald Trump’s order to limit birthright citizenship on indefinite pause worldwide, stating that U.S. citizenship is a right just as valuable as life or liberty.
During a hearing in Greenbelt, U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman stated that the executive order is in violation of the plain wording of the 14th Amendment, goes against the 250-year tradition of citizenship by birth in our country, and contradicts a 125-year-old binding Supreme Court precedent. The president’s perspective has never been supported by any national court. It won’t be the first court.
On February 19, the order was scheduled to take effect.
The preliminary injunction issued on Wednesday is the second short-term halt to Trump’s executive order. It comes after a complaint was filed two weeks ago on behalf of five pregnant women and members of CASA and ASAP by the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, the immigrant services group CASA, and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law. A request for comment regarding the judge’s order was not immediately answered by the Department of Justice.
Boardman stated on Tuesday that citizenship is a highly valued privilege that is specifically protected by the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
Trump’s order aims to restrict birthright citizenship to those who have at least one parent who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. He dubbed it Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship. According to this, children born to parents who are temporarily but lawfully in the nation would no longer be automatically granted citizenship, including those who are on student or high-skilled work visas.
Last Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “President Trump signed that executive order because this administration believes that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional.” “This jurisdiction’s rules do not apply to illegal immigrants who enter the nation and have children. This administration holds such view.
The injunction was referred to as a triumph by the plaintiffs in the case.
George Escobar, CASA’s chief of programs and services, told NBC News on Wednesday that this is the kind of battle that will be necessary for the next four years of the Trump administration. Knowing that their darling infants are citizens and have access to all the rights that come with it gives the pregnant mothers who brought this action against President Trump and numerous immigrants nationwide peace of mind.
The court’s decision to temporarily halt the Birthright Citizenship Executive Order today was the right one. According to a statement from ASAP’s co-executive director, Swapna Reddy, the Executive Order has caused upheaval for a lot of families, including ASAP members, who are afraid their kids won’t be able to live fearlessly in the only nation they have ever known.
“All I have wanted is for my baby to be born healthy and safe, but instead, even though my baby will be born in the U.S., I have been worried that they will be denied a right that is guaranteed under the constitution, the right to be a U.S. citizen,” said Trinidad, a pregnant asylum-seeker and plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Several pregnant women who would be impacted by the executive order told NBC News ahead of the judge’s ruling that what should have been an exciting time for their expanding families has instead been tainted by a profound fear that they may be split apart or that their unborn children will not have the rights of a U.S. citizen even though they were born here.
The Justice Department may now file a procedural appeal with the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals against the preliminary injunction issued on Wednesday. If the department intends to pursue such an appeal, the Justice Department attorney who argued the case did not specify.
In addition, about two dozen states have sued the Trump administration, arguing that the order is unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. According to the Amendment, everyone born or naturalized in the United States and falling under its jurisdiction is a citizen of both the United States and the state in which they currently reside.
On January 23, a federal judge in Seattle imposed a 14-day temporary restraining order. Regardless of Wednesday’s order, that case and others around the nation will go on.
In that instance, the judge was informed by Trump’s Justice Department attorneys that the order was a crucial component of the president’s initiatives to solve the ongoing southern border crisis and the nation’s flawed immigration system.