A U.S. appeals court has declared President Donald Trump’s executive order, which seeks to end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants, “unconstitutional” and upheld a nationwide blockade.
The decision follows the Supreme Court’s late June ordering lower courts to reconsider the injunctions that had blocked implementation of Trump’s order, as well as its territorial scope. However, the San Francisco appeals court ruled that the injunction issued by a Seattle judge blocking the order nationwide did not constitute judicial overreach.
“The district court correctly concluded that the proposed interpretation of the Executive Order, which denies citizenship to many US-born individuals, is unconstitutional. We strongly agree,” wrote Appeals Court Judge Ronald Gould, representing the two-to-one majority that served on this ruling, as reported by CNN.
In this regard, this court concluded “that the district court (in Seattle) did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction to provide the states with complete relief.”
Judge Gould explained that a more restrictive territorial injunction—for example, one affecting only states that did not appeal the order—would require the states that challenged the law to revise their eligibility verification systems for various social service programs, causing “irreparable harm.”
This is the first time an appeals court has fully concluded that Trump’s order is unconstitutional, although the White House resident could appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
However, the measure is also blocked nationwide after a federal judge in New Hampshire barred its application against any child affected by the policy in a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The move is a blow to the Trump administration after the Supreme Court ruled in late June to limit judges’ authority to block Trump’s controversial executive orders nationwide, while still preserving the right to file class-action lawsuits.
