US federal judge blocks Trump's birthright order nationwide

A federal judge in Maryland ruled that US President Donald Trump cannot withhold citizenship from people born to people in the United States illegally or temporarily, issuing the fourth court decision blocking Trump’s birthright citizenship order since a key Supreme Court ruling in June.

US District Judge Deborah Boardman’s preliminary injunction was expected after she said last month that she would issue such an order if an appeals court returned the case to her. The 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to her late in July.

Since June, two other district courts, in addition to an appellate panel of judges, have also blocked Trump’s birthright ban nationwide, which he passed on his first day in office through an executive order.

Trump’s executive order signed on Inauguration Day on 20 January would deny citizenship to children born to parents living in the United States illegally or temporarily.

Boardman issued a preliminary injunction blocking the executive order nationwide, but a ruling by the Supreme Court offered the Trump administration some hope of upholding the policy many criticise as a violation of the US Constitution.

The 14th Amendment of the Constitution stipulates that all persons born or naturalised in the United States are US citizens.

The top US court upended Boardman’s decision and other court rulings blocking Trump’s order across the nation, saying that federal judges and courts lack the authority to grant nationwide injunctions.

The justices ruled did not however rule out other court orders which could have nationwide effects, including class-action lawsuits and those brought forward by states.

Boardman on her Thursday ruling certified a class of children who have been born or will be born in the United States after 19 February, who would be affected by Trump’s order.

She argued that the plaintiffs in the lawsuit before her were “extremely likely” to win their argument that the US president’s order is a constitutional violation and are also likely to suffer “irreparable harm” if the order went into effect.