BOSTON (AP) — A federal appeals court in Boston ruled on Friday that the Trump administration cannot withhold citizenship from children born to people in the country illegally or temporarily, adding to the mounting legal setbacks for the president’s birthright order.
A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the fifth federal court since June to block the president’s order. The court concluded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claims regarding entitlement to birthright citizenship under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.
The ruling upheld preliminary injunctions that blocked the birthright order while lawsuits challenging it moved forward. This order, signed the day the president took office, aimed to terminate automatic citizenship for babies born to people in the U.S. illegally or temporarily.
“The ‘lessons of history’ thus give us every reason to be wary of now blessing this most recent effort to break with our established tradition of recognizing birthright citizenship,” the court stated.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta welcomed the ruling, emphasizing that the decision reaffirms the constitutional rights of Americans. “The First Circuit reaffirmed what we already knew to be true: The President’s attack on birthright citizenship flagrantly defies the Fourteenth Amendment,” Bonta stated.
The controversy surrounding birthright citizenship sparked a range of lawsuits targeting the Trump administration’s policies. This latest ruling could significantly impact ongoing debates regarding citizenship rights and immigration reform as the issue is expected to escalate to the Supreme Court.
In a prior Supreme Court ruling, justices had signaled that lower courts typically can't issue nationwide injunctions, yet they did not dismiss the potential for class-action lawsuits to achieve similar effects. The outcome of these ongoing legal battles remains uncertain as the Supreme Court prepares to take up the issue.
The Constitution's 14th Amendment underscores that all individuals born or naturalized in the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens. The interpretation of this amendment is at the heart of the disputes surrounding the administration's birthright citizenship order.
As various states challenge the legality of such policies, the implications could extend far beyond the courtroom, influencing the lives of countless American families.
