A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, upholding a lower court’s decision to block the policy nationwide.
The order had faced months of legal battles and was already on hold due to ongoing court challenges.
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that individual judges may have overstepped their authority by issuing nationwide injunctions against several of Trump’s policies, including the attempt to limit birthright citizenship.
Multiple district judges had previously blocked the administration’s efforts to end the constitutional guarantee that anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically granted American citizenship.
However, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a Seattle-based district judge did not exceed judicial authority by issuing a nationwide injunction in this case.
“We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the States complete relief,” wrote Judge Ronald Gould.
Gould argued that limiting the injunction to individual states would fail to provide meaningful protection, especially if people were to move between states with differing rules on citizenship.
The appeals court also affirmed that Trump’s order contradicts the clear language of the U.S. Constitution.
“The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,” Gould stated.
Trump’s executive order had sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or temporary visa holders — a controversial reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment.
Although the current Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, refrained from ruling on the constitutionality of the order, it did weigh in on the broader issue of nationwide injunctions — a decision Trump publicly celebrated as a “giant win.”
The Court also left open the possibility that executive actions like this could be challenged through class-action lawsuits.
Earlier this month, a federal judge granted class-action status to any child potentially affected by the order and issued a preliminary injunction while legal proceedings continue.
