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A federal appeals court on Friday ruled that the Trump administration cannot deny citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily, dealing another major legal blow to the president’s controversial birthright order.
A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals became the fifth federal court since June to block or invalidate President Donald Trump’s executive order, which sought to halt automatic citizenship for babies born to noncitizen parents. The judges found that the plaintiffs are likely to prevail on their claim that such children are entitled to citizenship under the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
“The ‘lessons of history’ thus give us every reason to be wary of now blessing this most recent effort to break with our established tradition of recognizing birthright citizenship,” the panel wrote, upholding lower court injunctions that froze the order.
The Trump administration has argued that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” in the 14th Amendment excludes children of undocumented or temporary migrants. But courts across the country have rejected that interpretation, citing more than a century of legal precedent.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose state joined nearly 20 others in challenging the policy, called the ruling “a resounding victory for constitutional rights.”
“The First Circuit reaffirmed what we already knew to be true: The President’s attack on birthright citizenship flagrantly defies the Fourteenth Amendment,” Bonta said. “A nationwide injunction is the only reasonable way to protect against its catastrophic implications.”
The ruling came hours after another federal appeals court sided with immigrant rights groups, including the League of United Latin American Citizens and the ACLU of New Hampshire.
“The federal appeals court today reinforced that this executive order is a flagrant violation of the U.S. Constitution — and we agree,” said SangYeob Kim, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of New Hampshire. “Our Constitution is clear: no politician can decide who among those born in this country is worthy of citizenship.”
The Trump administration vowed to appeal, with White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson saying the court “is misinterpreting the 14th Amendment.” She added, “We look forward to being vindicated by the Supreme Court.”
In September, the administration formally petitioned the Supreme Court to uphold the order, setting up what could be a definitive ruling by next summer on the scope of the 14th Amendment’s protections.
Since June, at least four other federal courts — in Maryland, New Hampshire, California, and Massachusetts — have issued nationwide injunctions against the policy. Each has concluded that the Constitution’s plain text and Supreme Court precedent from 1898 guarantee citizenship to nearly everyone born on U.S. soil.
That 1898 ruling, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, found that a child born in San Francisco to Chinese parents was a U.S. citizen by virtue of his birth, establishing the foundation for America’s long-standing interpretation of birthright citizenship.
As litigation continues, the appeals court’s decision ensures that the Trump order will remain blocked nationwide — at least until the Supreme Court decides whether to take the case.
