President Donald Trump has suffered his first major legal loss as president before his first week is even finished, with a federal judge in Seattle temporarily suspending his controversial executive order revoking birthright citizenship — a right guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment to all children born in the United States regardless of their parents' immigration status.
Trump's order, which would have prohibited the issuance of federal documents like passports to children without at least one citizen or lawful permanent resident parent, was blasted by Senior District Judge John Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee, who said the order was "blatantly unconstitutional" and accused lawyers for Trump of arguing in bad faith.
Commenters on social media celebrated the decision, expressing hope and confidence that it would be the first step toward permanently blocking Trump's plan.
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"Another loss for those who don't understand the Constitution!" wrote podcaster Brian Krassenstein.
"The first blow against the unconstitutional birthright citizenship order!" wrote immigration rights attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.
"Trump's birthright citizenship EO is halted for now," wrote Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown. "Today a judge granted our temporary restraining order nationwide, saying he had not seen an order this blatantly unconstitutional in 40 years on the bench. We'll continue fighting for Washingtonians' freedoms."
"No surprise," wrote Maryville College historian Aaron Astor. "And no, Appeals Courts and SCOTUS aren’t going to overrule. You may not like birthright citizenship for children of illegal Aliens. But there is no originalist case for saying that illegals are not subject to US jurisdiction."
"Reagan judge who put on a hold on Trump's birthright citizenship order basically did 'I award you no points, may God have mercy on your soul,'" wrote Vox reporter Andrew Prokop.
"Yeah this is right," wrote Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project. "The birthright citizenship EO is obviously unconstitutional, and the judge is right to question the good faith of the lawyers making the case."
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