President Donald Trump responded on Thursday to reporters asking him about the federal judge who blocked his executive order gutting birthright citizenship — taking a jab at the judge and confirming he'll fight the decision.
"A U.S. judge temporarily blocks the birthright citizenship order. Do you have any reaction?" one reporter asked.
"No," said Trump. "Obviously, we'll appeal it. They put it before a certain judge in Seattle, I guess. Right. And there's no surprises with that judge."
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Trump appeared to imply the decision was biased against him because it came from a judge in a liberal, West Coast city. The judge in question, Senior U.S. District Judge John Coughenour, was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan.
Trump's order seeks to redefine the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of citizenship to all people born in the United States and "subject to the jurisdiction thereof," by declaring that children without citizen or permanent resident parents are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States — even though legal experts broadly agree that is not what "jurisdiction" means.
Under Trump's directive, children of undocumented immigrants, or even certain non-citizens in the country legally, could not be issued passports or other federal documents affirming their U.S. citizenship.
Over a dozen states almost immediately sued to block this order from taking effect.