WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking President Donald Trump’s renewed attempt to limit birthright citizenship, partially halting an executive order the president issued after the Supreme Court struck down his more sweeping effort last year.Authorities are “barred from taking any other action to interfere with, deny, or fail to recognize the citizenship of any member of the certified class,” Judge Deborah Boardman of the District Court of Maryland wrote in her ruling.The injunction applies to major federal bodies, including the State, Justice and Homeland Security departments. While the order is frozen, the court noted that the government may still issue public guidance related to certain sections of the policy.In the opinion accompanying the preliminary injunction, Boardman wrote that the new policy was likely unconstitutional under the Supreme Court ruling this summer striking down Trump’s earlier attempt to end birthright citizenship.The 2026 executive order sought to expand categories of those ineligible for automatic citizenship and targeted “birth tourism.”The move followed a June decision by the US Supreme Court, which struck down a previous attempt to end birthright citizenship. Chief Justice John Roberts affirmed then that the 14th Amendment protects all children born on American soil.Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News on Wednesday the executive order was crafted with an understanding of the Supreme Court’s decision.“We didn’t expect this judge to say we were right and so this is not something that is a surprise to us,” Blanche said, later adding, “If we have to go back to the Supreme Court, we will.”The more recent executive action was aimed at tightening laws already in place and narrowing recognized exceptions to birthright citizenship – the principle in the 14th Amendment that grants citizenship to anyone born on US soil, regardless of the immigration status of their parent.Trump’s latest order, issued in August, said that federal agencies would not recognize the citizenship of children whose parents are not citizens if either parent is “an alien enemy,” “a foreign government employee,” or engaged in so-called birth tourism.“If not enjoined as to the class, the 2026 Executive Order could deny the right to citizenship by birth to children whom the Supreme Court declared were citizens,” Boardman, an appointee of President Joe Biden, wrote.A second case challenging the new policy is pending in New Hampshire.Trump has made curbing birthright citizenship a hallmark of his second term. Immediately after returning to office last year, the president issued an executive order that sought to deny citizenship to babies of parents who are unlawfully in the country or visiting under temporary status.But that order was rejected this summer by the Supreme Court, which concluded it was unconstitutional, prompting Trump to take the latest action that’s now the focus of the legal challenges.
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