Federal judge blocks Trump’s newest attempt to crack down on birthright citizenship
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s renewed attempt to limit birthright citizenship, partially halting an executive order the president issued after the Supreme Court struck down his more sweeping effort last year.
US District Judge Deborah Boardman said the administration could not enforce the new, more limited policy, but the judge is allowing the agencies to continue to work on guidance on how they would carry out.
In the opinion accompanying the preliminary injunction, she wrote that the new policy was likely unconstitutional under the Supreme Court ruling this summer striking down Trump’s earlier attempt to end birthright citizenship.
Her order applies to the certified class of legal challengers in the case, which are any children who would have been denied citizenship under the first executive order.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on Wednesday the executive order was crafted with an understanding of the Supreme Court’s decision.
“We didn’t expect this judge to say we were right and so this is not something that is a surprise to us,” Blanche said, later adding, “If we have to go back to the Supreme Court, we will.”
The more recent executive action was aimed at tightening laws already in place and narrowing recognized exceptions to birthright citizenship – the principle in the 14th Amendment that grants citizenship to anyone born on US soil, regardless of the immigration status of their parent.
Trump’s latest order, issued in August, said that federal agencies would not recognize the citizenship of children whose parents are not citizens if either parent is “an alien enemy,” “a foreign government employee,” or engaged in so-called birth tourism.- CNN
