Trump’s birthright citizenship order blocked by Maryland judge

Washington — A federal judge in Maryland on Wednesday temporarily blocked President Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship from taking effect nationwide, becoming the second to rule against the president amid a rush of legal challenges to his directive.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, appointed by former President Joe Biden, agreed to grant a preliminary injunction sought by immigrants-rights groups after conducting a hearing on the request. The organizations, led by Maryland-based CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, filed a lawsuit arguing Mr. Trump’s executive order targeting birthright citizenship violates the Constitution and federal law.

“This is a victory for our families, for our country, and for the Constitution of the United States. This is the level of fight that will be required for the next four years of the Trump administration,” George Escobar, chief of Programs and Services of CASA, one of the groups that challenged the order, said. “The pregnant women who took this case up against President Trump — and so many immigrants across the country — can breathe easier knowing that their precious children are citizens and afforded the full rights that come with that.”

The suit brought in Maryland is one of at least eight that were filed in courts from coast to coast soon after Mr. Trump signed the order on his first day in office. Entitled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” the directive denies U.S. citizenship to children born to mothers who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily on visas, and whose fathers are neither citizens nor lawful residents.

The immigrants-rights’ groups are suing alongside five women who are pregnant and live in the U.S. They now fear their children will be denied U.S. citizenship because of their immigration status and that of their fathers, according to the filing.

“Every day, babies are being born in the United States whose constitutionally guaranteed citizenship will be called into doubt under the Executive Order,” they wrote in their suit.

Swapna Reddy, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, said the court’s decision was the right one and warned that Mr. Trump’s executive order “has created chaos for so many families, including ASAP members, who are scared their children will not be able to live a life free of fear in the only country they will have ever known.”

Boardman is not the first judge to block Mr. Trump’s birthright citizenship order. Last month, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour halted its enforcement in a case brought by four Democrat-led states, Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon.

Coughenour issued a 14-day temporary restraining order to remain in place while he considered a request for a preliminary injunction and called Mr. Trump’s directive on birthright citizenship “blatantly unconstitutional.” Coughenour, who sits on the federal court in Seattle, is set to hold a hearing Thursday to consider whether to issue a preliminary injunction.