WASHINGTON (OSV NEWS) — After two federal judges in two days blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind birthright citizenship, a third federal judge followed suit on Feb. 10.
U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante in New Hampshire temporarily blocked the order Feb. 10 in response to a lawsuit filed by groups including the American Civil Liberties Union.
Four days earlier, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour in Seattle, a Reagan appointee, who previously issued a temporary injunction on the order, blocked it again Feb. 6, issuing a stinging rebuke of the order in remarks from the courtroom, The Seattle Times reported.
Coughenhour argued Trump was trying to change the Constitution “under the guise” of an executive order.
“If the government wants to change the exceptional grant of birthright citizenship, it needs to amend the Constitution itself,” he said. “Because the president’s order attempts to circumvent this process, it is clearly unconstitutional.”
14th Amendment’s ‘Plain Language’
On Feb. 5, in response to a separate challenge to the order, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland also issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against it in response to a challenge from five pregnant women without legal residency. She said Trump’s executive order “conflicts with the plain language of the 14th Amendment.”
“The U.S. Supreme court has resoundingly rejected the president’s interpretation of the citizenship clause,” Boardman said. “In fact, no court has endorsed the president’s interpretation, and this court will not be the first.”
Within hours of returning to the Oval Office at the start of his second, nonconsecutive term on Jan. 20, Trump signed executive orders to implement some of his signature hardline immigration policies, including one seeking to end the practice of birthright citizenship.
The 14th Amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” but Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Jan. 20 that “we’re the only country in the world that does this.”
Principle of ‘Jus Soli’
However, the United States is one of at least 30 countries, including Canada and Mexico, in which the principle of “jus soli” or “right of soil” applies, which grants citizenship without restrictions, regardless of the immigration status of the parents. Most of those countries are located in the Americas, and scholars trace the origins of the practice to colonial times.
Trump’s order directed federal agencies to stop issuing passports, citizenship certificates and other official documents to children born in the U.S. to parents without legal status or temporary visa holders. The order would not apply retroactively, Trump said, and would be enforced in 30 days.
The order on birthright citizenship was among the Trump immigration policies that were criticized by the U.S. bishops.
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said in a Jan. 22 statement, “The proposed interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment to limit birthright citizenship sets a dangerous precedent, contradicting the Supreme Court’s longstanding interpretation.”
Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
Story updated Feb. 10, 2025, at 12:45 p.m.
