United States District Judge John C. Coughenour has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to end birthright citizenship, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional”.
Coughenour, a distinguished jurist with more than four decades of judicial experience, emphatically stated that in his entire career, he had never encountered a case where the challenged action so overtly and egregiously contravene the United States Constitution.
The judge issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon.
The states contended that the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, coupled with longstanding Supreme Court precedents, unequivocally establishes birthright citizenship as a fundamental right in the United States.
This order, signed by Trump on Inauguration Day, aimed to terminate the constitutional guarantee of citizenship for children born in the US, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
The lawsuit is one of five legal challenges filed nationwide by a coalition of 22 states and several immigrant rights organizations, all contesting the constitutionality of the order.
The lawsuits include heartfelt testimonies from attorneys general who themselves are US citizens by birthright, as well as accounts from pregnant women who fear that their unborn children may be denied US citizenship due to the executive order.
When it takes full effect on February 19, the order is expected to impact hundreds of thousands of people born in the United States.
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