A federal judge has temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour issued a temporary restraining order that would stop Trump from moving forward with the executive order. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” Judge Coughenour said during Thursday’s hearing.
According to reports, 22 states have filed lawsuits challenging the order and states it’s a violation of the 14th Amendment. The Amendment states that “all children born on U.S. soil are entitled to American citizenship.”
Judge Coughenour, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, said he’s surprised Trump’s administration found legal council who would defend the executive order. On Thursday, Trump told reporters he vows to appeal the restraining order and said, “There’s no surprised with that judge.”
Brett Shumate, acting head of DOJ’s Civil Division, said Judge Coughenour didn’t have to “rush to take action” because order will begin on Feb. 19. “This Court should not rush to judgment on a manufactured timeline,” he said.
Shumate along with other DOJ lawyers called the executive order “an integral part of President Trump’s recent actions, pursuant to his significant authority in the immigration system and the ongoing crisis at the southern border.”
The temporary block comes after four states; Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington, argued the order violates the rights of people who live in those states. This lawsuit is one of six coming from Trump’s order and the first to be seen by a judge.
In another lawsuit, a Maryland judge had scheduled a conference where a DOJ lawyer also felt there was no need to rush the litigation. “There is a strong likelihood that Plaintiffs will succeed on teh merits of their claims that the Executive Order violates the Fourteenth Amendment and Immigration and Nationality Act,” Coughenour wrote in his order.
The judge’s block on the order has been applied nationwide and will be in effect for 14 days, however, states are looking for a long-term injunction. This issue is set to go the Supreme Court in a few days or weeks.
This comes along with Trump signing an executive order to end DEI programs.