New York: In a major relief to thousands of immigrants, a federal judge on Thursday blocked Donald Trump’s administration from implementing the president’s executive order curtailing the right to automatic birthright citizenship in the United States. The judge called the order “blatantly unconstitutional”.
Seattle-based US district judge John Coughenour had issued a temporary restraining order at the request of four Democratic-led states—Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon.
Trump had signed the order on his first day back in office on Monday.
“I am having trouble understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that this order is constitutional,” the judge told a US Justice Department lawyer, who was defending Trump’s order. He stated that the order ‘boggles’ his mind.
Coughenour, 84, was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan. He was nominated to the federal bench in 1981. According to reports, he grilled the DOJ attorney, Brett Shumate, asking whether the lawyer personally believed that the order was constitutional.
Contradicting the judge, Shumate argued that Trump’s order was constitutional. The lawyer argued that any judicial order blocking the executive order would be “wildly inappropriate”.
Birthright citizenship: What’s Trump’s order?
- Donald Trump’s executive order had directed US agencies to refuse to recognise the citizenship of children born in the United States, if neither their mother nor father is a US citizen or lawful permanent resident.
- According to Trump’s order, any children born in the United States after February 19 whose mother and father are not American citizens or lawful permanent residents would be subject to deportation. They would be prevented from obtaining Social Security numbers and various government benefits.
- Over 150,000 newborn children would be denied citizenship annually if Trump’s order is allowed to stand.
