U.S. Court Halts Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order for the Fourth Time

In a new legal development that is a strong blow to the agenda of U.S. President Donald Trump, a federal court on Thursday, August 7, issued a ruling to halt the implementation of his executive order that restricts the right to U.S. citizenship by birth nationwide.

Federal Judge Deborah Boardman, from the District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, issued this ruling in a class-action lawsuit involving children born in the United States who were set to be deprived of citizenship under the new executive order.

Trump issued this directive on his first day in office, January 20, 2025, ordering federal agencies not to recognize the citizenship of any child born on U.S. soil unless at least one of the parents is a U.S. citizen or has legal permanent residency.

The decision sparked a wave of outrage, prompting 22 Democratic state attorneys general and immigrant rights organizations to challenge its constitutionality.

The challenge was based on the argument that this action violates the citizenship clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which has long been interpreted as granting citizenship to anyone born within the United States, regardless of their parents' status.

The U.S. Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, issued a controversial ruling on June 27 that limits the power of federal judges to issue broad injunctions that obstruct presidential policies nationwide.

However, this ruling included exceptions, allowing some judges to issue decisions that halt the implementation of specific orders, such as Trump's birthright citizenship order.

With this ruling, this marks the fourth federal court to halt Trump's order, reflecting the extent of the widespread legal resistance he faces in his attempts to reshape immigration and citizenship policies in the United States.