Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Latest Birthright Citizenship Order
US District Judge Deborah L. Boardman issued a preliminary injunction in Maryland on Wednesday blocking President Donald Trump‘s executive order seeking to curb birthright citizenship. Immigrant families and advocacy groups are challenging the administration’s directives through an active class-action lawsuit as the federal court preserves citizenship rights for children.
Supreme Court precedent anchors the preliminary injunction halting the administration’s narrowed August directive. Boardman stated in her ruling that children in the certified class are citizens at birth, pointing to constitutional protections under the 14th Amendment that stretch back to 1868.
Federal agencies are temporarily barred from enforcing the executive order, which targeted children born to adults with foreign embassy connections or those classified as alien enemies, alongside individuals accused of engaging in commercial transactions to access birthright citizenship. Plaintiffs including We Are CASA, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection informed the court that the administration relies on broad interpretations, speculation, and misinformation, causing widespread fear and confusion among families who feared their children could be denied citizenship due to extended family ties or routine travel arrangements.
Shana Khader, legal director at We Are CASA, stated through a prepared statement that the White House must recognize it will not succeed in stripping children of their right to citizenship, evading binding court decisions, or placing the president’s agenda above the Constitution. Administration attorneys argued that the request for an injunction was premature and that enforcement measures would rely on official guidance that has not yet been issued, an argument the judge explicitly rejected by noting that the executive order commands agencies to deny citizenship documents regardless of unissued guidance.
The ruling follows a Supreme Court decision in June that struck down a previous administration attempt to end automatic citizenship for children born to people in the United States illegally or temporarily.
