A federal judge in Seattle temporarily halted President Donald Trump's controversial executive order to deny automatic citizenship for some people born on US soil, calling the move to end birthright citizenship "blatantly unconstitutional."
"I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that is a constitutional order," Judge John Coughenour of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington told the Trump administration's attorneys after hearing arguments Thursday morning, according to multiple news outlets in the courtroom. "It boggles my mind."
"I've been on the bench for over four decades. I can't remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is," the judge added.
The ruling was made in a case brought by four states — Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon. The case is among at least five lawsuits filed this week challenging Trump's birthright-citizenship order on the grounds that it violates the 14th Amendment.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department told Business Insider in a statement that the law enforcement agency "will vigorously defend President Trump's EO, which correctly interprets the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
"We look forward to presenting a full merits argument to the Court and to the American people, who are desperate to see our Nation's laws enforced," the spokesperson said.
In the judge's ruling granting a 14-day restraining order, Coughenour wrote: "There is a strong likelihood that Plaintiffs will succeed on the merits of their claims that the Executive Order violates the Fourteenth Amendment and Immigration and Nationality Act."
On Tuesday, attorneys general from 22 states and two cities across the country filed two separate lawsuits to block the order. A hearing has not yet been held for the first suit, which 18 states and the top law-enforcement officers of Washington, DC, and San Francisco have joined.
The lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon says the president "has no authority to amend the Constitution or supersede the Citizenship Clause's grant of citizenship to individuals born in the United States." It adds: "Nor is he empowered by any other constitutional provision or law to determine who shall or shall not be granted United States citizenship at birth."
The lawsuit also says: "United States citizens are entitled to a broad array of rights and benefits as a result of their citizenship. Withholding citizenship or stripping individuals of their citizenship will result in an immediate and irreparable harm to those individuals and to the Plaintiff States."
Trump signed the order targeting birthright citizenship, titled "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship," shortly after he was sworn into office Monday for a second presidential term. It was scheduled to take effect 30 days after its signing.
Birthright citizenship is a policy that automatically gives citizenship to anyone born in the US or US territories. Under Trump's executive order, federal agencies would be banned from issuing any documents granting citizenship to US-born children whose parents live in the country illegally, or in cases in which the mother was lawfully in the country temporarily — such as a student or tourist — but the father is neither a US citizen nor a lawful permanent resident.
The American Civil Liberties Union also brought a lawsuit on Monday that says at least 150,000 children would be affected.
Other immigration executive orders Trump signed after he was sworn in involved declaring a national emergency, sending the military to the US-Mexico border, shutting down the CBP One app from which immigrants seeking asylum could submit information, and restricting federal funding to sanctuary cities — which have limited cooperation with agents working to deport immigrants in the US illegally.
White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields told BI in a statement on Wednesday that the Trump administration is prepared to fight back against the lawsuits targeting his executive orders.
"Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get on board and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda," Fields said. "These lawsuits are nothing more than an extension of the Left's resistance — and the Trump Administration is ready to face them in court."
