President Trump signs executive actions and orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday, hours after taking office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States.
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U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on Thursday issued a ruling temporarily blocking President Trump’s executive order to end the birthright of children born to immigrants in the United States, temporarily or without legal status. Coughenour issued the temporary restraining order after a hearing in Seattle.
The judge signed the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit filed by Oregon, Arizona, Illinois and Washington state, one of several lawsuits opposing the efforts. administration aimed at restricting the right to citizenship of anyone born on American soil.
In a standing-room-only courtroom in downtown Seattle, Coughenour interrupted Justice Department lawyer Brett Schumate to tell him how unconstitutional he thought the administration’s order was. .
“I’ve been on the bench for four decades, I can’t remember another instance where the question asked was as clear as this one,” Coughenour said, calling Trump’s order “patently unconstitutional.”
“There are other times in the history of the world when we look back and people of good will can say, ‘Where were the judges? Where were the lawyers?'” the judge said, according to KUOW News.
The judge’s order blocks federal agencies from implementing the executive order Trump signed Monday while the case is under review.
“Obviously we will appeal,” Trump said, referring to the judge’s ruling during an appearance at the White House on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice told NPR via email that the new administration will “vigorously defend” Trump’s executive order. “We look forward to making a substantive argument to the Court and to the American people, who desperately want to see our nation’s laws enforced,” the DOJ official said.
Outside court, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown applauded the judge’s skepticism. “This is the first step,” Brown said. “But hearing the judge say from the bench that in his 40 years as a judge he has never seen something so blatantly unconstitutional sets the tone of the seriousness of this effort.”
Brown is among 22 Democratic state attorneys general who joined lawsuits to block the executive order. In a statement released after Thursday’s ruling, Brown said “the unconstitutional and un-American executive order will hopefully never go into effect.”
The 14thth The amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants full citizenship to all persons “born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” This provision has been interpreted for decades as granting U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the United States. Some conservatives say babies born to migrant families without legal status in the United States should be excluded.
In his executive order, Trump declared that “the privilege of American citizenship is a priceless and profound gift.” This case is expected to be decided by the United States Supreme Court.
Law enforcement correspondent Martin Kaste contributed to this story.
