On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that purported to qualify birthright citizenship by limiting it to the children of citizens or lawful permanent residents. That decree, which contradicted the text of the 14th Amendment and 127 years of judicial precedent, ran into legal trouble three days later, when John Coughenour, a federal judge in Washington, blocked it with a temporary restraining order. It hit two more roadblocks this week.
On Wednesday, Deborah Boardman, a federal judge in Maryland, issued a preliminary injunction against Trump's order. The next day, so did Coughenour. Although Boardman was appointed by a Democrat (Joe Biden) and Coughenour by a Republican (Ronald Reagan), their reasoning is essentially the same, and it underlines the weakness of the legal arguments that Trump has deployed in defense of his attempt to restrict birthright citizenship by executive fiat.
The 14th Amendment says "all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof" are "citizens of the United States." Trump argues that children of unauthorized residents or legal but temporary visitors are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction because their parents are not "domiciled" in the United States and owe "allegiance" to foreign governments.
