A federal judge in Seattle has signed a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship.
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour on Thursday heard a request made by four Democratic-led states to issue a temporary restraining order against the executive order signed by Trump that purports to limit birthright citizenship to people who have at least one parent who is a United States citizen or permanent resident.
“I have been on the bench for over four decades,” said Judge Coughenour, who was nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1981. “I can’t remember another case where the case presented is as clear as it is here. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.”
“In your opinion, is this executive order constitutional?” he asked DOJ attorney Brett Shumate.
“Yes, we think it is,” Shumate said, drawing the judge’s rebuke.
“I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar can state unequivocally that this is an unconstitutional order. It boggles my mind,” Coughenour said. “Where were the lawyers when this decision was being made?”
Trump’s executive order reinterpreting the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship — long promised by Trump on the campaign trail — is expected to spark a lengthy legal challenge that could define the president’s sweeping immigration agenda.
Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and two cities have sued Trump over the executive order, and the president faces at least five separate lawsuits over the policy.
Thursday in Maryland, a federal judge held a pre-hearing conference by telephone in a challenge brought by two nonprofit groups and five pregnant undocumented women seeking to temporarily block the order from taking effect.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman asked the DOJ if the child of parents who are subject to the executive order is born this afternoon in the United States, whether they would be a United States citizen.
“As I read the executive order, the answer is yes,” responded DOJ attorney Brad Rosenberg, who suggested that enforcement of the order will not begin until Feb. 19, based on Section 2(b) of the executive order, which directs agencies to stop issuing citizenship documents to newborns born 30 days after the order.
The DOJ argued that “any sort of temporary or emergency relief in the immediate short term is unnecessary and inappropriate,” saying that, based on their knowledge, agencies “haven’t taken any of the steps yet regarding enforcement of the order.”
But plaintiffs were not convinced by the DOJ that the executive order will not be applied immediately to newborns.
“We think the executive order is maybe less clear than Mr. Rosenberg has suggested,” plaintiff’s attorney Joseph Mead said.
DOJ attorneys subsequently acknowledged that they have not had an opportunity to consult with the agencies on whether they have taken any steps to enforce the order.
The judge scheduled a hearing on the matter for Feb. 5.
