A US district judge has blocked, for 14 days, President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship in the country.
The Seattle district court judge, John Coughenour, described the order as “blatantly unconstitutional” during the hearing on Thursday.
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During the hearing, for which he heard 25 minutes of arguments before issuing an order blocking the policy from taking effect for 14 days, he said, “I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, and I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one.”
There will be another briefing on a preliminary injunction to permanently block the executive order as the case proceeds, according to the Associated Press.
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The executive order to end birthright citizenship was one of 42 executive orders that President Donald Trump signed on Monday, his first day in office.
The order, considered part of Mr Trump’s migration control policy, seeks to limit automatic birthright citizenship to children of US citizens and green card holders.
However, four states – Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon – began pushing to halt the order set to take effect in late February.
This is one of five lawsuits filed by 22 states and various immigrant advocacy organisations nationwide.
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The lawsuits argue that the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees citizenship to anyone born or naturalised in the country.
This principle, known as jus soli (right to soil), has been consistently upheld by US states for over a century.
It is recognised in around 29 countries, including Canada, Brazil, and Argentina, in addition to the US.
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