US judge temporarily blocks Trump bid to restrict birthright citizenship

A federal judge on Thursday put a temporary block on US President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.

The ruling imposes a 14-day halt on the enforcement of one of the most controversial executive orders Trump signed in the hours after he was sworn into office for a second term.

“This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” US District Judge John Coughenour was reported as saying during the hearing in Washington state.

“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is,” said Coughenour, who was appointed by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan.

Birthright citizenship is fundamental to America’s national identity, with the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution decreeing that anyone born on US soil is a citizen.

It says, in part: “All persons born or naturalised in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”