iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
A federal judge in Maryland temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending birthright citizenship on Wednesday, February 5, marking the second such ruling against the president as legal challenges to his directive mount across the country, reported CBS News.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, appointed by President Joe Biden, granted a preliminary injunction sought by immigrant rights organizations following a hearing on the case.
The lawsuit, filed by groups, including CASA, a Maryland-based organization, and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, argues that Trump’s executive order violates the U.S. Constitution and federal law by denying citizenship to children born in the U.S. to parents who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily on visas.
“This is a victory for our families, for our country, and for the Constitution of the United States. This is the level of fight that will be required for the next four years of the Trump administration,” George Escobar, chief of Programs and Services of CASA, one of the groups that challenged the order, said, as quoted by the news outlet.
“The pregnant women who took this case up against President Trump — and so many immigrants across the country — can breathe easier knowing that their precious children are citizens and afforded the full rights that come with that,” Escobar said.
The lawsuit is one of at least eight filed nationwide in response to Trump’s executive order, issued on his first day in office. Titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” the order seeks to strip citizenship from children born to mothers who are not in the U.S. legally or are temporarily residing on visas, as well as from children whose fathers are not citizens or legal residents.
In their suit, the immigrant-rights groups are joined by five pregnant women living in the U.S. who fear that their children will be denied citizenship due to their own immigration status and that of their fathers. “Every day, babies are being born in the United States whose constitutionally guaranteed citizenship will be called into doubt under the Executive Order,” the plaintiffs wrote.
Swapna Reddy, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, expressed support for the court’s decision and emphasized the chaos the executive order has caused for many families.
The organizations challenging the order are represented by the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center.
This ruling is the second of its kind. Last month, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour issued a temporary restraining order halting the enforcement of the executive order in a case brought by four Democrat-led states—Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon. Coughenour described the directive as “blatantly unconstitutional” and is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday to consider issuing a preliminary injunction in that case as well.
(Photo courtesy: Donald Trump Instagram)
