U.S. District Judge, John C. Coughenour issued a ruling on Thursday, January 23, temporarily blocking President Trump’s executive order that aimed to end birthright citizenship for children born to migrants in the U.S. temporarily or without legal status.
Coughenour issued the temporary restraining order after a hearing in Seattle.
The judge signed the temporary restraining order in response to a lawsuit brought by Oregon, Arizona, Illinois, and Washington state, one of several suits opposing the administration’s effort to curb the right of citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil.
In the courtroom in downtown Seattle, Coughenour interrupted the attorney for the Justice Department, Brett Schumate, to tell him how unconstitutional he thinks the administration’s order is.
“I’ve been on the bench for four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is,” Coughenour said, describing Trump’s order as “blatantly unconstitutional.”
“There are other times in world history where we look back and people of goodwill can say, ‘Where were the judges? Where were the lawyers?'” the judge said, according to KUOW News.
The judge’s order blocks federal agencies from implementing the executive order, signed by Trump on Monday, while the case is under review.
Reacting to the order, Washington State Attorney General, Nick Brown, said: “This is step one. “But to hear the judge from the bench say that in his 40 years as a judge, he has never seen something so blatantly unconstitutional sets the tone for the seriousness of this effort.”
Brown is among 22 Democratic state AGs who have joined lawsuits to block the executive order.
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants full citizenship to all persons “born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”
In his executive order on Monday, Donald Trump said the “privilege of United States citizenship is a priceless and profound gift.” This case is expected to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.