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A federal judge in Maryland on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, ruling that his 2026 executive order is almost certainly unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction barring the Trump administration from enforcing the order, which sought to deny U.S. citizenship to certain children born on American soil.
The order targeted children whose parents were deemed members of designated terrorist organizations, parents who intentionally came to the United States to obtain citizenship for their children — commonly referred to as “birth tourism” — and children born to foreign diplomatic personnel.
It also sought to deny citizenship to children born in U.S. territories where Congress has not specifically granted citizenship. American Samoa is the only U.S. territory currently falling into that category.
Judge Cites Supreme Court Ruling
Boardman said the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this summer reaffirmed the longstanding principle that children born in the United States are citizens at birth.
“The 2026 Executive Order is almost certainly unconstitutional,” Boardman wrote, concluding that the Supreme Court had already determined that children covered by the case are citizens from birth.
She said the court therefore had to again block enforcement of Trump’s effort to restrict their citizenship.
The ruling marks the second time Boardman has intervened against Trump’s efforts to end or narrow birthright citizenship.
Trump has argued that the Constitution does not require automatic citizenship for every child born in the United States and has sought to redefine how the 14th Amendment’s citizenship guarantee applies.
Administration Faces Another Legal Setback
The injunction prevents the administration from implementing the latest order while the underlying legal challenge proceeds.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case is likely to continue through the federal courts and could eventually return to the Supreme Court, where the broader constitutional question surrounding birthright citizenship remains a major issue in Trump’s immigration agenda.
For now, Boardman’s ruling preserves citizenship protections for the children covered by the injunction and represents another legal setback for the administration’s effort to change the rules governing citizenship at birth.
