Reagan-Appointed Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order

A federal judge blocked President Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship from taking effect on Thursday.

U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee, said the order was “blatantly unconstitutional,” according to Reuters.

“I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar could state unequivocally that is a constitutional order,” Coughenour said, according to the Washington State Standard. “It boggles my mind.”

Washington, along with Oregon, Arizona and Illinois, initially sued the Trump administration on Tuesday. Several other Democratic state attorneys general and liberal groups followed with their own lawsuits.

BREAKING: Federal judge temporarily blocks birthright citizenship EO from taking effect. “I’ve been on the bench for over 4 decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order” – Judge Coughenour

— Daniel Barnes (@dnlbrns) January 23, 2025

Trump issued his order on “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” on his first day in office.

“[T]he Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States,” Trump’s order states. “The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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