A U.S. appeals court has denied Donald Trump’s bid to end automatic birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants born in the nation.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request to pause a lower court judge’s order halting the president’s executive order, which he signed when he took office a month ago.
A panel of judges upheld an order blocking Trump from curtailing automatic birthright citizenship nationwide as part of his hardline crackdown on immigration and illegal border crossings.
This is the first time an appellate court has addressed Trump’s executive order regarding constitutionally protected birthright citizenship, the fate of which may now ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump’s Department of Justice had asked the appellate court to issue an emergency stay, which would largely pause the decision while it pursued an appeal.
The Justice Department argued that Seattle-based U.S. District Judge John Coughenour went too far by issuing a nationwide injunction at the behest of four Democratic-led states.
Judges in Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire have blocked the executive order separately. The Justice Department is also pursuing appeals in the Maryland and Massachusetts cases.
Trump’s order, signed on his first day back in the White House on January 20, instructed U.S. agencies to deny citizenship recognition for children born in the United States after Tuesday if neither their mother nor father is a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
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