US judge temporarily blocks Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship order

A federal judge issued a temporary injunction against President Donald Trump’s order which sought to terminate birthright citizenship for children born to undocumented parents. The States of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon brought a case which US District Judge John C Coughenour heard regarding birthright citizenship and its protection under the 14th Amendment supported by Supreme Court case law.

Twenty-two States and multiple immigration rights organizations across the country have launched five separate lawsuits which include this case. Attorney generals who hold birthright citizenship present personal testimonies in the suits along with accounts of pregnant women who fear their children will fail to obtain US citizenship status.

The presidential order signed by US President Donald Trump on Inauguration Day will become effective on February 19 and according to a lawsuit it may affect hundreds of thousands of people born in the United States.

According to a legal case filed in Seattle four states reported around 255,000 citizen children were born to mothers who resided illegally in the country along with approximately 153,000 births to parents who both lived in the country illegally in 2022.

The US stands with approximately 30 countries that implement birthright citizenship following the jus soli principle known as “right of the soil”. Birthright citizenship is prevalent throughout the Americas with Canada and Mexico included among these countries. The lawsuits claim that the 14th Amendment to the US judge bestows citizenship to those born and naturalized in the US while States have interpreted this amendment as such for over one hundred years.

Ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, the amendment says: The United States ratified this amendment in 1868 after the Civil War to declare that anyone born or naturalized in the country who falls under its jurisdiction becomes a citizen of both the United States and the specific state where they live.

According to Trump's directive federal agencies must deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. whose parents are both noncitizens as these children do not fall under U.S. jurisdiction.