A federal judge has temporarily blocked Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to redefine birthright citizenship, ruling that the measure clearly violates the United States Constitution.
The decision was issued during the first hearing of a lawsuit filed by several states challenging the order. Judge John Coughenour, presiding over the case, sided with the plaintiffs who argued that the executive order violated constitutional principles.
Nick Brown, the Attorney General of Washington State, expressed his satisfaction with the ruling. “We came to the courthouse today to defend the United States Constitution, to defend democracy in America, and to defend what it means to be an American citizen,” he said. Brown added that he was “pleased the court recognized the seriousness and urgency of the complaints and requests for a temporary injunction filed by the states of Washington, Oregon, Arizona, and Illinois.”
He also commended the judge’s decision to bar the U.S. government from enforcing the order, which Brown described as “unconstitutional and un-American.” The temporary injunction aims to prevent the elimination of birthright citizenship in the United States.
This temporary halt of the executive order, requested by the states of Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington, marks the first such case to be heard before a federal judge. It is part of one of five lawsuits filed by a total of 22 states, backed by immigrant rights advocacy groups nationwide.
