Baltimore, Maryland — A federal judge appointed by President Biden has issued a nationwide injunction against former President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship. U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman ruled Thursday that the order likely violates the Constitution.
The injunction follows a class-action lawsuit initiated by the immigration advocacy group CASA. In her ruling, Boardman emphasized that the plaintiffs demonstrated a strong likelihood of success in proving that the executive order contradicts both the Fourteenth Amendment and established Supreme Court precedent. She noted that the order would cause irreparable harm by denying citizenship to affected children, an outcome that could be avoided with the injunction.
“The balance of equities and public interest weigh in favor of a preliminary injunction,” Boardman stated, adding that maintaining the current status of birthright citizenship does not harm the government while leaving plaintiffs at risk without such relief.
This marks the fourth time a federal judge has blocked Trump’s birthright citizenship order since a Supreme Court ruling in June. The executive order, signed on the first day of Trump’s second term, directed U.S. government agencies to withhold citizenship documents from children born to undocumented immigrants or those whose parents are not American citizens or lawful permanent residents.
Previously, lower courts had swiftly blocked the order before the Supreme Court took up the case in May. The high court’s ruling was narrowly focused on the lower courts’ authority to issue nationwide injunctions without addressing the legality of the executive order itself.
In response to the Supreme Court’s directive that plaintiffs seeking nationwide relief must file as class-action lawsuits, advocacy groups such as the ACLU and CASA mobilized to revise their legal filings, reinforcing the push against the controversial order.
The birthright citizenship debate has mobilized significant public attention, with protests occurring outside the Supreme Court during deliberations in May, illustrating the heightened stakes for families potentially affected by the policy.
Judge Boardman’s ruling heralds continued legal challenges to the Trump administration’s immigration policies and showcases the complex interplay between executive actions and constitutional protections.
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