Judge accuses Trump of ‘ignoring’ law in stunning rebuke of birthright citizenship order
Judge accuses Trump of ‘ignoring’ law in stunning rebuke of birthright citizenship order
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The president treats rule of law as ‘an impediment to his policy goals,’ federal judge says. “The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain,” he added. “In this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow.”. Judge Coughenour accused the president of trying to alter the 14th Amendment “under the guise of an executive order.”.
![[A lawsuit from Washington Attorney General Nick Brown and attorneys general from three other states joins a wave of litigation challenging Trump’s executive order redefining the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/06/19/03/Washington-Attorney-General-Nick-Brown-nj4za5nt.jpeg)
“If the government wants to change the exceptional grant of birthright citizenship, it needs to amend the Constitution itself,” he added. “Because the president’s order attempts to circumvent this process, it is clearly unconstitutional.”. Trump’s order “runs counter to our nation’s 250-year history of citizenship by birth” and likely violates Supreme Court precedent, which “has resoundingly rejected” the president’s characterization of the 14th Amendment, Maryland District Judge Deborah L. Boardman said.
Last month, Coughenour told the court that he “can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is.”. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” he said. The 14th Amendment was “specifically enshrined” to “ensure that no one — not even the President — could deny children born in America their rightful place as citizens,” according to a separate lawsuit from a coalition of civil rights groups representing immigrant mothers.
If Trump’s order is allowed to go into effect, people born in the United States could be denied passports and Social Security numbers, jeopardizing their ability to travel and work within the country and receive government benefits and protections afforded to citizens. The 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”.
