A federal judge Wednesday furthered a block of President Trump’s executive order preventing the children of migrants without legal status from receiving birthright citizenship .
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman concluded a hearing in Greenbelt by saying Trump’s order “runs counter to our nation’s 250-year history of citizenship by birth” and likely violates an 1898 Supreme Court decision on the subject.
“The United States Supreme Court has resoundingly rejected the president’s interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment,” Boardman told reporters. “In fact, no court in this country has ever supported the president’s interpretation. “This court will not be the first.”
A separate federal judge in Seattle had previously put Trump’s executive order on hold. However, that ruling will expire Thursday, when the judge will hold another hearing.
Boardman’s decision, unless overturned by an appeals court, will stand until she can issue a final ruling on the merits of the plaintiffs’ constitutional claims, which is expected to take months.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order limiting birthright citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who do not have permanent legal status, effective February 19. It is one of several immigration actions taken by Trump during his first few weeks in office.
During the hearing, Eric Hamilton, deputy assistant attorney general for the civil division, insisted that the Trump administration’s position was consistent with the 1898 Supreme Court precedent central to the case, United States v. Wong Kim Ark.
“We have not argued that Wong Kim Ark is bad law. “We believe it is consistent with the rule that we have established for the Citizenship Clause,” Hamilton said.
However, Boardman rejected this notion, arguing that a nationwide ruling blocking Trump’s order was required to protect the public interest.
“Today, almost every baby born on American soil is a citizen at birth. That is the law and tradition in our country. Boardman, a former President Biden appointee, stated that law and tradition will remain unchanged until the case is resolved.
“The government will not be harmed by a preliminary injunction that prevents it from enforcing an executive order likely to be found unconstitutional,” according to her.
Wednesday’s hearing in Maryland is the first of several hearings scheduled across the country over the next week in the majority of the nine lawsuits challenging Trump’s birthright citizenship order.
Two immigrant rights organizations and five anonymous expecting mothers without permanent legal status filed the case in Maryland. The other cases involve 22 Democratic state attorneys general, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Santa Clara County, California, among other organizations.
The challengers argue that the courts have only recognized a few exceptions to the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship for all people born on American soil: children of diplomats, children born on foreign ships, children of enemies under hostile occupation, and Native American tribe members.
“Generations of children have grown up with that promise,” Joseph Mead, special litigation counsel at Georgetown Law’s Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, which represents the Maryland challengers, said during Wednesday’s hearing.
