Federal appeals court rules vs Trump birthright order
BOSTON—A federal appeals court in Boston ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot withhold citizenship from children born to people in the country illegally or temporarily, adding to the mounting legal setbacks for the president’s birthright order.
A three-judge panel of the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals became the fifth federal court since June to either issue or uphold orders blocking the president’s birthright order. The court concluded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claims that the children described in the order are entitled to birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The panel upheld lower courts’ preliminary injunctions, which blocked the birthright order while lawsuits challenging it moved ahead. The order, signed the day the president took office in January, would halt automatic citizenship for babies born to people in the United States illegally or temporarily.
“The ‘lessons of history’ thus give us every reason to be wary of now blessing this most recent effort to break with our established tradition of recognizing birthright citizenship and to make citizenship depend on the actions of one’s parents rather than—in all but the rarest of circumstances—the simple fact of being born in the United States,” the court wrote.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose state was one of nearly 20 that were part of the lawsuit challenging the order, welcomed the ruling.
“The First Circuit reaffirmed what we already knew to be true: The President’s attack on birthright citizenship flagrantly defies the Fourteenth Amendment of the US Constitution and a nationwide injunction is the only reasonable way to protect against its catastrophic implications,” Bonta said in a statement. “We are glad that the courts have continued to protect Americans’ fundamental rights.”
‘Violates’ Constitution
A second appeals court ruling on Friday also found in favor of several organizations that challenged the birthright citizenship order. The plaintiffs, including New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support and League of United Latin American Citizens, were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“The federal appeals court today reinforced that this executive order is a flagrant violation of the US Constitution—and we agree,” said SangYeob Kim, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Hampshire. “Our Constitution is clear: no politician can decide who among those born in this country is worthy of citizenship.”
In September, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to uphold its birthright citizenship order. The appeal sets in motion a process at the high court that could lead to a definitive ruling from the justices by early summer on whether the citizenship restrictions are constitutional.
“The court is misinterpreting the 14th Amendment. We look forward to being vindicated by the Supreme Court,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
In July, US District Judge Leo Sorokin in Boston issued the third court ruling blocking the birthright order nationwide after a key Supreme Court decision in June.
