Judge rails against Trump in blocking birthright executive order for second time

A second federal judge indefinitely blocked President Trump’s executive order that would restrict birthright citizenship, harshly condemning the administration for attempting to do so at a Thursday hearing.

“It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain,” U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said as he announced his ruling.

“Nevertheless, in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow,” continued Coughenour, an appointee of former President Reagan. The judge previously halted Trump’s order, but that ruling only lasted two weeks and was set to expire Thursday.

Coughenour agreed to grant a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking Trump’s order as requested by four Democratic state attorneys general and a group of private plaintiffs.

He issued his order after hearing less than 20 minutes of arguments, pointing to his previous work in what was formerly the Soviet Union.

“I said this two weeks ago, and I'll say it again today: There are moments in the world's history when people look back and ask, ‘Where were the lawyers, where were the judges?’ In these moments, the rule of law becomes especially vulnerable. I refuse to let that beacon go dark today,” the judge said.

On his first day in office, Trump signed the executive order narrowing birthright citizenship so that it doesn’t extend to children born on U.S. soil to parents without permanent legal status. The order is part of a flurry of immigration actions during the administration’s first few weeks in office.

Trump’s move has already spurred nine lawsuits, which point to how the Supreme Court has long interpreted the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship guarantee to include only narrow exceptions.

“This case turns on the critical phrase ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ in the Citizenship Clause. On that issue, plaintiffs offer a construction of that phrase that is demonstrably and unequivocally incorrect,” Drew Ensign, a deputy assistant attorney general, pushed back at Thursday’s hearing.

The judge’s order adds to a near-identical injunction granted by a federal judge in Maryland Wednesday. Hearings are scheduled in Boston on Friday and Concord, N.H., on Monday in other lawsuits.

Both of this week’s rulings remain in effect indefinitely, blocking Trump’s birthright citizenship order until the judges can fully resolve the cases on the merits.

But Coughenour left little mystery for how he ultimately views the legality of Trump’s action.

“The Constitution is not something with which the government may play policy games. If the government wants to change the exceptional American grant of birthright citizenship, it needs to amend the Constitution itself,” the judge said.

“That's how our Constitution works, and that's how the rule of law works. Because the president's order attempts to circumscribe this process, it is clearly unconstitutional,” he continued.

Updated 2:02 p.m.

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