VOA News | Monday, July 1, 2024 
US judge temporarily blocks Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship

A U.S. federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order redefining birthright citizenship, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional” during the first hearing in a multistate effort challenging the order. The temporary restraining order sought by Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington was the first to get a hearing before a judge and applies nationally. The case is one of five lawsuits being brought by 22 states and several immigrant rights groups across the country. The suits include personal testimonies from attorneys general who are U.S. citizens by birthright and name pregnant women who are afraid their children won’t become U.S. citizens. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee, began the hearing by grilling the administration’s attorneys, saying the order “boggles the mind.” “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” Coughenour told Brett Shumate, a Justice Department lawyer. Coughenour said he’s been on the bench for more than four decades and couldn’t remember seeing another case where the action challenged was so clearly unconstitutional. Shumate said he respectfully disagreed and asked the judge for an opportunity to have a full briefing on the merits of the case, rather than the judge issuing a 14-day restraining order blocking its implementation. Trump’s executive order, which he signed on Inauguration Day, is slated to take effect on Feb. 19. It could affect hundreds of thousands of people born in the country, according to one of the lawsuits. In 2022, there were about 255,000 births of citizen children to mothers living in the country illegally and about 153,000 births to two such parents…Read more