A US federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a new executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship, dealing another legal setback to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
US District Judge Deborah Boardman of Maryland issued a preliminary injunction on Wednesday after immigrant rights organisations challenged the order, which targets what Trump described as “birth tourism”.
In her 35-page ruling, Boardman said the Supreme Court had already addressed the issue, stating that children covered by the case are “citizens at birth.”
She further described Trump’s August 6 executive order as “almost certainly unconstitutional.”
The ruling followed the US Supreme Court’s rejection of an earlier attempt by the administration to limit birthright citizenship.
Lower courts had previously blocked Trump’s first order, holding that the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment protects citizenship rights for nearly everyone born on US soil.
Immigrant rights groups welcomed the latest ruling, describing it as another defeat for the administration’s immigration policies.
Shana Khader, legal director at We Are CASA, a Maryland-based immigrant rights organisation, said the administration had repeatedly failed in its efforts to end birthright citizenship.
Trump’s executive order sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the US if their parents were undocumented migrants or held temporary visas.
The administration argued that the policy was necessary to address what it described as abuses of the citizenship system.
The legal battle is part of Trump’s broader immigration agenda, which includes efforts to deport millions of undocumented migrants and remove protections for nationals from several countries.
The latest ruling means the administration’s attempt to redefine birthright citizenship remains blocked while the legal challenges continue.
