US Appeals Court Rules Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order Unconstitutional

A U.S. federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that former President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship was unconstitutional, upholding a lower court’s decision to block the policy nationwide.

The controversial order, which sought to deny automatic citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants or those on temporary visas, has been entangled in legal disputes for months. A federal court had already placed the order on hold amid ongoing litigation.

Although the Supreme Court ruled last month that individual judges may have overstepped by issuing sweeping nationwide injunctions on several of Trump’s policies—including the birthright citizenship order—it stopped short of addressing the policy’s constitutionality directly.

Trump’s attempt to reinterpret the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, faced immediate legal challenges. Multiple district judges blocked the executive order, citing constitutional grounds.

In its ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals backed a Seattle-based district judge’s nationwide injunction, rejecting the argument that it amounted to judicial overreach.

“We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the states complete relief,” wrote Judge Ronald Gould.

Gould reasoned that limiting the injunction to specific states would undermine its effectiveness, particularly given the complexity of citizenship enforcement across state lines.

“The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,” Gould added.

Trump’s executive order marked a significant departure from established constitutional interpretation. It stated that children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants or individuals with temporary legal status would no longer be granted citizenship at birth.

Although the current Supreme Court, with its 6-3 conservative majority, declined to weigh in on the order’s legality, it did review the broader issue of nationwide injunctions. The ruling was touted by Trump as a “giant win,” despite the court not addressing the birthright policy itself.

The justices also left the door open for the executive order to be challenged through large-scale class-action lawsuits. In a separate development earlier this month, a federal judge granted class-action status to any child potentially affected by the policy and issued a preliminary injunction, halting enforcement as legal proceedings continue.