Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump's executive order that sought to redefine the 14th Amendment and federal law by denying citizenship to certain American-born children of immigrants.

District Judge John Coughenour called the order "blatantly unconstitutional" and granted a temporary restraining order that blocks it from taking effect nationally.

The lawsuit is one of at least five legal challenges playing out in federal courts across the country.

Eighteen state attorneys general and officials in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco are also suing the Trump administration to block the order.

Several pregnant women and immigrant advocacy groups representing families and expecting mothers have also launched lawsuits to overturn the order.

Under the sweeping terms of Trump's order, children born in the United States after February 17 could be denied citizenship "when that person's mother was unlawfully present" or "lawful but temporary," and if the father "was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person's birth."

The 14th Amendment's citizenship clause plainly states that "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."

In a federal complaint filed on Tuesday, attorneys general for the four states argued that Trump's order would unlawfully strip more than 12,000 newborn children each month of U.S. citizenship that is entitled to them under federal law and the 14th Amendment.

Children denied citizenship "will be rendered undocumented, subject to removal or detention, and many will be stateless — that is, citizens of no country at all," they wrote.

"They will lose eligibility for myriad federal benefits programs. They will lose their right to travel freely and re-enter the United States. They will lose their ability to obtain a Social Security number ... and work lawfully," the plaintiffs continued.

"They will lose their right to vote, serve on juries, and run for certain offices," they added. "And they will be placed into lifelong positions of instability and insecurity as part of a new underclass in the United States."

Without the Constitution's guarantee of their citizenship, thousands of children "will lose their ability to fully and fairly be a part of American society as a citizen with all its benefits and privileges," they wrote.