A federal judge who previously halted President Donald Trump’s original birthright citizenship directive declined Friday to immediately block his revised order, though she expressed skepticism about whether the administration’s new approach is constitutional.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump’s latest effort to restrict birthright citizenship will remain in effect for now after a federal judge declined Friday to issue an immediate order stopping the administration from implementing the revised policy.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, refused to grant the same type of immediate relief she had issued against Trump’s original birthright citizenship order, Reuters reported.
Boardman nevertheless indicated that she has concerns about the constitutionality of the administration’s latest directive, leaving the underlying legal dispute unresolved.
The decision gives Trump an initial procedural victory in his renewed attempt to change how the federal government interprets the citizenship provision of the 14th Amendment.
Trump’s original directive instructed federal agencies to interpret the amendment as not automatically granting U.S. citizenship to children born in the country to illegal immigrants.
Boardman previously issued a stay against that order.
The Supreme Court subsequently struck down Trump’s first plan, prompting the administration to alter its approach and issue a new directive rather than abandon its effort to restrict automatic citizenship.
Trump signed the revised birthright citizenship order earlier this month.
The new directive seeks to broaden the categories of U.S.-born children whom the administration considers ineligible for automatic citizenship.
Trump acknowledged the Supreme Court setback when announcing the changes and said the revised policy was designed to account for the justices’ decision.
“We had a very unfortunate decision in the Supreme Court concerning birthright,” Trump said. “It was close, but a very, very unfortunate decision. So we’re making adjustments because it’s very unfair.”
The renewed legal fight centers on the meaning and reach of the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause and the amount of authority a president has to direct federal agencies to adopt a narrower interpretation of it.
The administration’s revised strategy attempts to address the legal problems that undermined its first effort while continuing Trump’s push to limit birthright citizenship for children whose parents lack qualifying immigration status.
Boardman’s refusal to immediately block the new order does not amount to a final ruling that the directive is constitutional.
Her skepticism during the proceedings indicates that the administration could still face substantial legal obstacles as the case develops.
The distinction is important because the court was considering whether the new policy should be stopped at this stage of the litigation, rather than issuing a definitive judgment on the merits of Trump’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment.
For the administration, the immediate result is that the revised order has avoided the type of judicial stay that Boardman imposed on Trump’s earlier directive.
For opponents, the judge’s constitutional concerns leave open the possibility of another ruling against the policy after the court considers the legal arguments more fully.
The case is the latest stage of a broader confrontation over Trump’s attempt to reshape federal birthright citizenship policy following his return to the White House.
After his first order was blocked and ultimately reached the Supreme Court, Trump chose to revise the administration’s approach rather than abandon the initiative.
Friday’s decision means that effort has cleared its first immediate judicial challenge.
Whether the revised directive ultimately survives constitutional review remains unsettled, with Boardman signaling that her decision not to block it immediately should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its legality.
Original article
Comments