First Circuit keeps ruling against Trump’s birthright citizenship order in place

BOSTON (CN) — The First Circuit on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration not to enforce its executive order on birthright citizenship while the issue makes its way through the appeals courts.

A lower court earlier issued a nationwide preliminary injunction against the order in a suit brought by 18 states and the District of Columbia. The Trump administration asked the First Circuit to stay that order pending appeal, but the court refused.

“The enforcement of the executive order would dramatically break with the executive branch’s longstanding legal position and thereby disrupt longstanding governmental practices,” U.S. Circuit Chief Judge David Barron noted in a 32-page decision.

The order, which Trump signed on his first day in office, denies citizenship to children born in the U.S. if their parents were in the country illegally or on a temporary visit. The order was limited to children born after Feb. 19, 2025, so it didn’t revoke any citizenships retroactively.

Four federal courts — in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Washington state — have issued injunctions preventing the order from going into effect. Ultimately the matter will almost certainly go to the Supreme Court.

The key issue is the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to anyone who was born in the U.S. “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” It’s not entirely clear what “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means, but the administration has argued that people who are in the country illegally or on a temporary visit don’t qualify.

The government didn’t make this argument to the First Circuit, however. Instead, it merely argued that the 18 states didn’t have standing to challenge the order.

To obtain a stay, the government must make a “strong showing” that there’s no standing, Barron said, and he found “no basis for us to conclude that it has made the required strong showing to undermine the plaintiff-states’ Article III standing.”

The states claim they have standing because depriving children of citizenship would reduce the amount of federal funding they receive for welfare, education, health care and Social Security benefits.

The government also argued that a stay was in the public interest because 19 other states filed amicus briefs in favor of Trump’s order, and it was unfair to them to issue a nationwide injunction.

But Barron, a Barack Obama appointee, said there was no unfairness because they 19 states weren’t adversely affected by the stay against federal officials.

Barron’s ruling was joined by two Joe Biden appointees, U.S. Circuit Judges Julie Rikelman and Seth Aframe.