Maryland, My Maryland, Again

Capital Gazette, Federal judge in Maryland blocks President Trump’s order attempting to end birthright citizenship

A federal judge in Maryland on Wednesday barred the Trump administration from acting on an executive order attempting to end birthright citizenship in the U.S.

The ruling, which is nationwide and has no expiration date, unlike a similar ruling last month, was another rebuke of one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial executive orders concerning immigration. The Republican’s Inauguration Day order seeks to upend over a century of constitutional precedent by preventing children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily from automatically becoming citizens.

Trump’s order conflicts with “the plain language” of the Constitution and contradicts 125 years of binding Supreme Court precedent as well as a 250-year history of birthright citizenship, U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, said in her ruling.

The Trump administration’s lawyers argued that children born to parents in the country illegally or temporarily are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and are therefore not entitled to citizenship. Boardman noted in her ruling, though, that “no court has ever endorsed” the president’s interpretation of the Constitution.

“This court will not be the first,” Boardman said.

“Today, virtually every baby born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen upon birth,” Boardman said. “That is the law and tradition of our country.”

The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in the wake of the Civil War to ensure citizenship for former slaves and free African Americans, states “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” The issue was further clarified in an 1898 Supreme Court decision about immigrants, a case that was central to arguments heard in Boardman’s courtroom on Wednesday morning.

Trump’s executive action on Jan. 20 would also forbid U.S. agencies from issuing any document or accepting any state document recognizing citizenship for children born to parents illegally or temporarily in the country after Feb. 19. It immediately prompted several legal challenges. Maryland joined roughly two dozen other states in a lawsuit set for a hearing Friday in Massachusetts, while a separate lawsuit in Seattle prompted a federal judge to issue a 14-day temporary restraining order on Jan. 23, calling Trump’s order “blatantly unconstitutional.”

Boardman’s preliminary injunction went a step further and is in effect unless overturned by a higher court or until she rules otherwise as the case proceeds.

Although no court has endorsed the Trump administration’s legal theory, constitutional scholars noted that the Justice Department was likely to appeal, but they were reluctant to speculate on how that might pan out.

Fear not, all is proceeding as planned. Some red state judge will disagree, and the case will go up the appeal chain and likely wind up at the Supreme Court. Even if the Supreme Court disagrees with Trump (I give it about 75% chance that they will 5-4), it will prompt the states to work on a constitutional amendment to fix it, and in the meantime, Republicans have the issue to beat on Democrats with.