(Newsweek) -On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied the Trump administration’s request to stay a district court’s nationwide preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of an executive order limiting birthright citizenship.
The court concluded that the executive order, which sought to alter birthright citizenship provisions, likely violated the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Consequently, the court enjoined the federal government from implementing or enforcing the executive order.
The administration argued that the 18 states suing lacked standing and sought to stay the injunction.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email Tuesday afternoon.
Why It Matters
Trump made ending birthright citizenship a core part of his immigration policy in the months between November’s presidential election and his inauguration, but the move has faced multiple legal challenges. Other immigration plans, including the detention of deportees at Guantanamo Bay and stopping the country’s refugee resettlement program, have also been challenged in court.
What To Know
Tuesday’s ruling is not the first to block the Trump administration’s move to end birthright citizenship, but the judge noted that the federal government had not provided “any developed argument” that it was likely to succeed in proving its own stance that ending the right was constitutional.
The president had ordered on January 20 that birthright citizenship be halted, despite it being seen as a long-standing provision of the 14th Amendment, which Supreme Court rulings have also upheld.
The policy grants citizenship to those born on U.S. soil regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Trump argued that the policy had been abused and misinterpreted and sought to make exceptions through his executive order.
Immigration and civil rights advocates, along with several state attorneys general, moved to block the move, including in the case dealt with Tuesday filed by the attorneys general of New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Delaware, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Vermont and the City of San Francisco.
A preliminary injunction was issued on February 13, after plaintiffs raised concerns that thousands of babies born each year could be left without legal status.
The Trump administration had sought to have the preliminary injunction lifted, but the First Circuit Court of Appeals said it had not offered “strong showing as to either the
Executive Order’s lawfulness or the Plaintiff-States’ lack of standing.”
Tuesday’s order follows a similar move by a Fourth Circuit court at the end of February.
What People Are Saying
New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, leading the case, in a statement to Newsweek: “Every court to consider President Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship by Executive Order has found it is flagrantly unconstitutional, and every appellate court has rejected DOJ’s effort to put his Order back in place. We are thrilled with the First Circuit’s decision, and we look forward to standing up for our birthright citizens no matter how far the Trump Administration takes this case.”
What’s Next
The Trump administration could decide to pursue the case further, meaning it could go to the Supreme Court.
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