Federal Judge John Coughenour has provisionally blocked the executive order signed last Monday by US President Donald Trump to end the right to US citizenship granted by being born in the country, considering it a “blatantly unconstitutional” measure.
Coughenour has agreed to the request made by several Democratic state prosecutors and has ordered the implementation of this measure to be blocked for a period of two weeks while new meetings are held on the matter, according to information collected by the American network CNN.
The judge has stated that, during his more than four decades of service, he had never faced a request “as clear” as that of the Democratic prosecutors. “Where were the lawyers when the decision was made to sign the executive order?” the federal judge asked, questioning Trump’s legal team.
Trump took office on Monday in Washington and during the first stages of his second term signed a series of executive orders that include the revocation of dozens of policies of his predecessor, Joe Biden, measures against immigration or pardons in favor of those prosecuted for the assault on the Capitol in January 2021.
At least a dozen Democratic state prosecutors filed a lawsuit the next day, considering that the withdrawal of birthright citizenship constitutes a violation of the Constitution in its 14th Amendment, which reserves citizenship to “every person born or naturalized in the United States.”
Any appeal to a possible ruling must be filed with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, where all judges are appointed by Democrats. If the matter were to become entrenched, Trump could appeal to the Supreme Court, where Republicans have a majority.
However, the United States’ highest court has repeatedly upheld birthright citizenship, while Congress also passed — even before the ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868 — a federal law granting this right to those born on U.S. soil.
