U.S. District Judge John Coughenour says he has never seen a case in which the challenged action so clearly violates the U.S. Constitution in his 40 years on the bench.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked on Thursday the decree of the new American president Donald Trump redefining soil lawcalling it “manifestly unconstitutional” during the first hearing in a multi-state action to challenge the executive order.
The temporary restraining order requested by Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington is the first to be heard before a judge.
It is about one of five lawsuits filed by 22 states and a number of immigrant rights groups across the country.
These actions include personal testimony from attorneys general who are U.S. citizens by birth, as well as names of pregnant women who fear their children will not become U.S. citizens.
U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee, called the president’s executive order “stunning”. In 40 years of activity, he claims to have never seen a case in which the challenged action so clearly violated the U.S. Constitution.
The United States is one of about 30 countries where birthright citizenship – the principle of jus soli or “right of the ground” – is applied. Most of them are in the American continent, and Canada and Mexico are also among them.
Does Donald Trump’s executive order violate the United States Constitution?
The lawsuits argue that The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship to those born and naturalized in the United Statesand that States have interpreted this amendment in this way for a century.
Ratified in 1868 following the Civil War, the amendment stipulated that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the State in which they reside”.
Under Donald Trump’s new executive order, children of non-citizens would not be subject to US jurisdiction and federal agencies would be barred from recognizing the citizenship of children with at least one parent who is not a U.S. citizen.
The Justice Department said in a statement that it “would vigorously defend” the presidential decree, which, according to him, “properly interprets the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States”.
