Judge slaps down Trump attack on birthright citizenship: 'Certainly unconstitutional'

A federal judge has blocked President Donald Trump's latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, ruling the effort is "almost certainly unconstitutional."

U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman in Maryland issued the preliminary injunction Wednesday, citing a June Supreme Court ruling that upheld birthright citizenship for nearly everyone born in the U.S., reported the Washington Post.

"This Court must, once again, preliminarily enjoin enforcement of the President's most recent attempt to strip the right to citizenship," Boardman wrote in a 35-page opinion. "The Supreme Court has spoken: Children in the certified class are 'citizens at birth.'"

The ruling stems from a challenge to an executive order Trump signed in August seeking to deny automatic citizenship to children born to foreign lobbyists, "alien enemies" and other specific categories. Immigrant-services nonprofits and parents without permanent immigration status brought the case.

It's the latest defeat in Trump's years-long push to narrow birthright citizenship. He first tried through a broad January 2025 executive order, which the Supreme Court rejected. In August, he issued two narrower orders targeting specific exceptions — one of which Boardman just blocked.

The Supreme Court's ruling in June reaffirmed the long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to nearly all children born on U.S. soil, with narrow exceptions such as children of foreign diplomats.

Boardman's injunction covers a "certified class" of children identical to those in the Supreme Court case. She wrote that Trump has tried to "upend our country's long-standing tradition of birthright citizenship," but that the high court's ruling controls.

"No Presidential Executive Order can undo what the Supreme Court has done," she wrote.

The White House had not responded to a request for comment as of early Thursday, but Attorney General Todd Blanche disputed that the order conflicts with the Supreme Court's decision in a Wednesday interview with Fox News.

"We crafted the E.O. around and in concurrence and understanding with what the Supreme Court said in their decision," Blanche said, adding the administration would "continue to fight" and return to the Supreme Court if necessary.