A second court has dealt a major legal blow to one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial executive orders. The 9th United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Wednesday, July 23, that the executive order ending birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, affirming a lower court’s nationwide block.
The executive order would have denied citizenship to babies born in the U.S. if their parents were here illegally or temporarily, such as those on tourist or student visas.
What did the court say?
The argument centered on the term “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” which the Justice Department argued gives the Trump administration leeway to deny citizenship to babies born to undocumented immigrants, as well as babies born to mothers who are in the country legally but temporarily if the baby’s father is not a citizen.
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In its opinion, the court found the executive order “contradicts the plain language of the 14th Amendment’s granting of citizenship to ‘all persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’”
What led up to this?
In June, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that three federal district judges overreached their authority when they issued nationwide injunctions against the executive order.
In doing so, the justices limited the lower court rulings to only block Trump’s order as applied to the states and plaintiffs that brought lawsuits over it. However, they left open the pathway to a nationwide injunction if individuals file class-action lawsuits.
“The district court below concluded that a universal preliminary injunction is necessary to provide the states with complete relief,” appeals court Judge Ronald Gould wrote for the majority. “We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the states complete relief.”
He added, “The states would suffer the same irreparable harms under a geographically-limited injunction as they would without an injunction.”
What comes next?
The 9th Circuit Court’s decision does not end the legal fight.
The Trump administration can ask the full 9th Circuit Court to review the case. It could also appeal straight to the Supreme Court.
