The implementation of President Donald Trump’s executive order to limit birthright citizenship in the US was halted by a federal judge on Wednesday.
One of Trump’s most controversial plans, which was scheduled to go into force statewide on February 19, is now indefinitely halted by the verdict.
According to the New York Times, District Judge Deborah Boardman emphasized in her ruling that Supreme Court precedent protects the right of citizenship for everyone born in the United States and said that denying birthright citizenship would result in irreversible harm.
She pointed out that the simple wording of the 14th Amendment, which ensures citizenship to anyone born in the US, is in conflict with Trump’s order.
“The denial of the precious right to citizenship will cause irreparable harm.
“No court in the country has ever endorsed the president’s interpretation,” Boardman said. “This court will not be the first,” as reported by The New York Times.
After Judge John Coughenour deemed the bill “blatantly unconstitutional,” Trump declared he would file an appeal.
The 14th Amendment, enacted in 1868 and granting citizenship to all people born in the United States, is at the heart of the legal dispute.
People who were in the country unlawfully or on temporary visas were not subject to US jurisdiction and, as a result, were not eligible for citizenship, according to Trump’s executive order.
An 1898 Supreme Court decision in the case of Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese-American man who was refused admittance to the United States on the grounds that he was not a citizen, has been cited by the order’s opponents.
His case was upheld by the court, which confirmed that children of immigrants are entitled to citizenship by birthright.