
<p>In the first salvo of what may be a drawn-out battle between newly inaugurated President Trump and the Judiciary,<a> </a>a federal judge has temporarily blocked the executive order (EO) on birthright citizenship<a>.</a></p>



<p>U.S. District Judge John Coughenour called the EO “blatantly unconstitutional” during the first hearing in a multi-state effort challenging Trump. Coughenour repeatedly interrupted a Justice Department lawyer to ask how he could consider the order constitutional. When the attorney, Brett Shumate, said he’d like a chance to explain it in a full briefing, Coughenour told him the hearing was his chance.</p>



<p>The temporary restraining order sought by Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, and Washington was the first to get a hearing before a judge and applies nationally.</p>



<p>The case is one of ;five lawsuits being brought by 22 states ;and a number of immigrant rights groups across the country. The suits include personal testimonies from attorneys general who are U.S. citizens by birthright, and names pregnant women who are afraid their children won’t become U.S. citizens.</p>



<p>Coughenour, a Ronald Reagan appointee, grilled the DOJ attorneys, saying the order “boggles the mind.”</p>



<p>“This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” Coughenour told Shumate. The judge said he’s been on the bench for more than four decades, and he couldn’t remember seeing another case where the action challenged so clearly violated the Constitution.</p>



<p>&#8220;The harms are immediate, ongoing, and significant and cannot be remediated in the ordinary course of litigation,&#8221; reads Coughenour&#8217;s ruling, which will remain in effect for 14 days.</p>



<p>When asked about the ruling in the Oval Office, Trump said the government “obviously” will appeal.</p>



<p>“They put it before a certain judge in Seattle, I guess, right? And there’s no surprises with that judge,” Trump said.</p>



<p>Expectations are growing that the emerging legal battle will end up at the conservative-majority court, which would then decide whether to revisit its longstanding precedent that only leaves narrow exceptions for when people born on U.S. soil aren’t entitled to birthright citizenship. ;</p>



<p>“We appreciate and wanted the challenges to this bill. We wanted the ACLU and these 22 states,” Rep. ;Brian Babin ;(R-Texas), who has introduced legislation to limit birthright citizenship, said at a Thursday press conference.  ;</p>



<p>“Why? So we can get it into the Supreme Court of the United States,” he continued. “This thing could take up to three years before it winds up in the highest court.” ;</p>

Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s EO on Birthright Citizenship
