In a significant setback for the Trump administration, a federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the president’s executive order that would end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship in the United States. The ruling by US District Judge John C. Coughenour comes in response to a lawsuit brought by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon, which argue that the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court precedent have firmly established birthright citizenship as a fundamental American right.
The case is just one of five lawsuits currently being pursued by a coalition of 22 states and several immigrant rights organizations nationwide. These legal challenges include personal testimonies from state attorneys general who are US citizens by birthright themselves, as well as the stories of pregnant women who fear their children will be denied citizenship under the new policy.
The Controversial Executive Order
Signed by President Trump on his first day in office, the executive order is scheduled to take effect on February 19th. If implemented, it could impact hundreds of thousands of individuals born in the country each year. In 2022 alone, there were approximately 255,000 births to mothers living in the US illegally and around 153,000 births to parents who were both undocumented, according to data cited in the four-state lawsuit filed in Seattle.
The United States is one of about 30 countries worldwide that grants birthright citizenship based on the principle of jus soli, or “right of the soil.” Most of these nations are located in the Americas, including neighboring Canada and Mexico.
14th Amendment Debate
Central to the legal debate is the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which states:
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
The lawsuits contend that this language unequivocally guarantees citizenship to those born on US soil, and that this interpretation has been upheld by the states for over a century. However, Trump’s order asserts that children born to noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, and instructs federal agencies to deny citizenship to those who do not have at least one parent who is either a US citizen or permanent resident.
Supreme Court Precedent
In the landmark 1898 case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the US Supreme Court held that a child born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrant parents was indeed a US citizen, even though the Chinese Exclusion Act barred his parents from ever becoming naturalized citizens themselves.
While this ruling is widely seen as cementing the concept of birthright citizenship, some advocates of tighter immigration controls argue that its application to children of undocumented immigrants, as opposed to legal residents, remains an unsettled question. It is this legal ambiguity that the Trump administration now seeks to exploit with its executive order.
States Push Back
In filing lawsuits to block the order, several state attorneys general have highlighted their own personal stakes in the birthright citizenship debate. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, the first Chinese American to be elected at his level, noted that he is a US citizen by birthright himself after being born to immigrant parents.
“There is no legitimate legal debate on this question. But the fact that Trump is dead wrong will not prevent him from inflicting serious harm right now on American families like my own.”
– William Tong, Connecticut Attorney General
The multi-state lawsuits also feature testimonies from expecting mothers like “Carmen,” an undocumented woman who has lived in the US for over 15 years and has a pending visa application. The suits argue that denying citizenship to children like hers will amount to “stripping them of the ‘priceless treasure’ of full membership in American society.”
An Uncertain Future
While Judge Coughenour’s injunction temporarily halts the executive order on a nationwide basis, the Trump administration is expected to swiftly appeal the decision. Legal experts anticipate the case will ultimately wind up before the US Supreme Court, likely in its next term starting this October.
As the birthright citizenship battle moves through the judicial system, the nation’s growing immigrant communities and their countless “citizen children” will anxiously await a ruling on their fundamental constitutional rights and very identities as Americans. In the meantime, the temporary block on Trump’s order provides a brief reprieve, ensuring that all children born in the US will continue to be recognized as citizens, regardless of their parents’ immigration status – at least for now.
The fierce legal clashes over birthright citizenship also underscore the deepening polarization and tensions surrounding immigration policy under the Trump presidency. As the 2026 midterm elections approach, the citizen voting rights of first-generation Americans could emerge as a critical but highly contentious campaign issue. In an era of stark partisan divides, the fight over birthright now symbolizes a much larger struggle to define the boundaries of American identity, belonging, and the very essence of citizenship itself.
