Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Judge temporarily halts Trump’s order banning birthright citizenship in U.S.

18 other states have sued against Mr Trump’s order and their suits are under review in Massachusetts.

and • January 23, 2025
Donald Trump
Donald Trump signing document

Judge John C. Coughenour has temporarily restrained President Donald Trump from ending birthright citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants or mothers on tourist visas and student visas.

Mr Coughenour, a federal court judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, on Thursday, said that Mr Trump’s executive order was “blatantly unconstitutional” and temporarily reversed it after multiple states —Washington, Illinois, Oregon and Arizona — filed lawsuits against the president’s order.

They contended that Mr Trump’s order not only contradicts the 14th Amendment but that it will leave no fewer than 150,000 babies born in the U.S. every year without state and benefits. This, they argued, will cause the states to lose funding from the federal government to finance multiple programs.

The attorneys for the four states told the judge that a constitutional amendment to alter the wording of the law to fit Mr Trump’s executive order would “flatly contradict the nation’s constitutional history and constitutional traditions,” relying on a 1995 testimony from former Assistant Attorney General Walter Dellinger.

18 other states have sued against Mr Trump’s order and their suits are under review in Massachusetts.

Mr Trump kicked off his presidency, signing a flurry of executive orders that not only halted automatic citizenship to all children born on American soil but also diminished the rights of persons with different sexual orientation. He stressed that the U.S. government will only recognise two genders, “male and female.”

He also ordered all federal government workers to return to offices fully, ending all remote work.

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