A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the implementation President Donald Trump’s executive order to limit birthright citizenship in the United States.
The verdict halts one of Trump’s most divisive proposals, which was scheduled to go into force nationally on February 19.
According to the New York Times, District Judge Deborah Boardman remarked in her opinion that denying birthright citizenship would result in irreparable harm and emphasised that Supreme Court precedent maintains the right to citizenship for people born on US soil.
She argued that Trump’s order contradicts the plain language of the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone born in the nation.
“The denial of the precious right to citizenship will cause irreparable harm.
“No court in the country has ever endorsed the president’s interpretation,” Boardman said. “This court will not be the first,” as reported by The New York Times.
The decision follows a similar decision by a federal judge in Washington state, who gave a 14-day stay of the order in January.
Judge John Coughenour called the proposal “blatantly unconstitutional,” prompting Trump to announce his intent to appeal.
The legal challenge focuses on the 14th Amendment, which was passed in 1868 and grants citizenship to all individuals born in the United States.
Trump’s executive order stated that persons who entered the country illegally or on temporary visas were not subject to US jurisdiction and hence were not eligible for citizenship.
Opponents of the order have cited an 1898 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese-American man who was denied admittance to the United States on the basis that he was not a citizen.
The court found in his favour, confirming that birthright citizenship is available to offspring of immigrants.
