A judge provisionally blocks Trump's decree that ends birthright citizenship in the US
A US federal judge has provisionally blocked this Thursday President Donald Trump's decree that ends the constitutional guarantee of citizenship by birthright, regardless of the immigration status of the parents, according to the country's media.
The case is one of five lawsuits filed by 22 states and several immigrant rights organizations across the country.
Through a decree, Trump seeks to eliminate the right to citizenship by birth in the case of children of parents without papers or with temporary immigration status.
This is the first obstacle for the president in his plan for mass deportations: First obstacle for Donald Trump in his plan for mass deportations. A federal judge has temporarily blocked this Thursday the executive order that the president signed to end the right to citizenship by birth on American soil. Of all the decrees that Trump signed on immigration matters, it was one of the ones that was expected to be stopped the fastest, since American citizenship is regulated by the Constitution.
“Flagrantly unconstitutional”
Judge John C. Coughenour has ruled in favor of the joint appeal presented by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, which states that the 14th amendment to the Magna Carta governs American citizenship. “This is an order [ejecutiva] flagrantly unconstitutional,” said Judge Coughenor, who for the moment has been inclined to suspend the decree temporarily.
With this order, the president wanted to put an end to what is known as “anchor babies,” which are the children of illegal immigrants who obtain citizenship when they are born in the United States. Republicans and other conservative groups have attacked anchor babies, saying they are a way for illegal immigrants to more easily obtain papers in the United States. The statement is not true. Parents continue to run the risk of being deported at any time and it is only possible to begin processing the green card once the child turns 21 years old.
The decree, which was expected to take effect on February 19, automatically excluded from citizenship those whose mothers are not legally in the United States and whose fathers are not U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, and those whose mothers are in the country legally, but temporarily and whose parents are not citizens or permanent legal residents.
It is not known exactly how many children of undocumented immigrants born there are currently in American territory (known as 'anchor babies'). In a report issued by the Pew Research Center, it was estimated that in 2016 some 250,000 children were born to undocumented parents in the United States.
Prosecutors from 22 states – most of them Democrats – filed a joint lawsuit on Tuesday against the executive order that Trump signed to end the right to citizenship for being born on American soil.
New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin joined together to file suit in court New Hampshire federal.
Arizona, Illinois, Oregon and Washington also filed a separate lawsuit in federal court challenging Trump's order, which the federal judge has accepted.
The District of Columbia and San Francisco and immigrant rights groups are also appealing the order to stop it.
