Yesterday, in Washington v. Trump, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Donald Trump's executive order denying birthright citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants and non-citizens present on temporary visas is unconstitutional. The court also upheld the district court's nationwide injunction against the order. Prominent conservative Judge Patrick Bumatay dissented on the ground that the plaintiff state governments lack standing.
This is the first appellate ruling on the legality of Trump's birthright citizenship order, though four federal district courts have previously ruled the same way. The majority opinion by Judge Ronald Gould does an excellent job of explaining why the order violates the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone "born … in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." It effectively covers text, original meaning, Supreme Court precedent, and more. It's a compelling demolition of the administration's argument that people who illegally entered the US are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States because they lack the proper "allegiance" and "domicile."
