A federal judge in Seattle is scheduled to hear arguments on Thursday regarding a longer-term suspension of President Trump's executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship. The order seeks to revoke automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents not legally present, but is currently on hold following a nationwide temporary injunction issued by a Maryland judge.
A federal judge who previously expressed doubts about the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship is scheduled to hear arguments Thursday regarding a longer-term suspension of the directive. U.S.
District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle will preside over the hearing, which will involve lawyers representing the Trump administration, four states seeking to halt the order, and an immigrant rights organization challenging it on behalf of a proposed class of expectant parents. This latest development follows a day after a Maryland federal judge issued a nationwide pause in a separate but similar case involving immigrant rights groups and pregnant women whose future children could be affected.The president's executive order seeks to revoke the automatic granting of citizenship to children born on U.S. soil to parents who are in the country illegally or present on a temporary, legal basis, such as student or tourist visas. However, for now, it remains suspended. Two weeks ago, Coughenour deemed the order 'blatantly unconstitutional' and implemented a 14-day temporary restraining order preventing its implementation. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman extended this pause, issuing a long-term injunction until the case's merits are resolved, unless the Trump administration successfully appeals the decision. When questioned by Boardman about the administration's potential appeal, an attorney representing the administration stated he lacked immediate authority to make that determination.On Thursday, the birthright citizenship issue returns to Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee. During a hearing last month, he described the case as exceptional in his over four decades as a federal judge. 'I can't recall another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is,' he told a Justice Department attorney. His temporary order halting the executive action was set to expire on Thursday, coinciding with the hearing where he will consider issuing an injunction similar to the one granted by the Maryland judge. A total of 22 states, along with various organizations, have filed lawsuits attempting to block the executive action. The case before the Seattle judge on Thursday involves four states: Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington. It has also been consolidated with a lawsuit filed by the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Eighteen states, led by Iowa, have submitted a 'friend-of-the-court' brief supporting the Trump administration's position in the case. Furthermore, a separate hearing is scheduled for Friday in a Massachusetts court. This case involves a different group of 18 states challenging the order, with New Jersey serving as the lead plaintiff. At the core of these lawsuits lies the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War and following the infamous Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which ruled that Scott, an enslaved man, was not a citizen despite residing in a state where slavery was prohibited. The plaintiffs argue that the amendment, stating 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,' unequivocally grants citizenship.The Trump administration contends that children of noncitizens are not 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States and thus ineligible for citizenship. 'The Constitution does not include a windfall clause granting American citizenship to...the children of those who have circumvented (or outright defied) federal immigration laws,' the government argued in response to the Maryland plaintiffs' suit. Attorneys representing the states counter that it explicitly does, a position upheld since the amendment's adoption, notably in an 1898 U.S. Supreme Court decision. That decision, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, held that the only children who did not automatically receive U.S. citizenship upon birth on U.S. soil were children of diplomats, who owe allegiance to another government; enemies present in the U.S. during hostile occupation; those born on foreign ships; and those born to members of sovereign Native American tribes
BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FEDERAL JUDGE CONSTITUTIONALITY IMMIGRATION LAWS FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT
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