BREAKING NEWS: Trump’s Challenge To Birthright Citizenship Deemed ‘Unconstitutional’

Federal Judge blocks implementation of the "Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship" executive order.

On Jan. 23, A federal judge in Seattle blocked the “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” executive order issued by President Trump, Reuters reported.

United States District Judge John Coughenour blocked the order that challenges American birthright citizenship. Judge Coughenour called the executive order “blatantly unconstitutional.”

The Constitution emphatically states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens.”

The legal fight over the executive order began almost immediately after the recently sworn-in president started his tenure. According to reports, “Five lawsuits by civil rights groups and Democratic attorneys general from 22 states” have been filed challenging the decree.

Speaking on behalf of the Democratic state attorneys general, Washington Assistant Attorney General Lane Polozola stressed the extreme implications of the order’s implementation.

“Under this order, babies being born today don’t count as U.S. citizens,” Polozola said during the hearing.

The Trump administration is not refuting the idea of denying American-born babies citizenship. Instead, it is claiming that the concept of birthright citizenship as defined by the 14th Amendment is skewed.

The government has moved to define rightful citizenship as:

When the person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the person’s father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of birth.
When the person’s mother’s presence in the United States was lawful but temporary, and the person’s father was not a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of birth.

The attempt to redefine birthright citizenship is a slippery and dangerous slope. When Black people were once considered three-fifths of a person, the 14th Amendment was put in place to clarify and solidify Black people’s rights to live in this nation and be counted.

Though the claims of the current administration do not seek to deny Black Americans’ rights, it is imperative that the Constitution remains untouched.

This story is developing as the current administration will likely present a challenge to the courts.