On Jan. 23, 2025, in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Seattle by the attorneys-general of Washington State, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon to overturn President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) banning birthright citizenship, Judge John Coughenour enjoined enforcement of the EO, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.” The judge issued a 14-day temporary restraining order.
Eighteen other states filed a similar lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court. That suit does not seek a preliminary injunction, however.
The EO directs federal agencies to refuse to recognize U.S. citizenship for children born in the United States to mothers in the country illegally, or who are present in the United States on non-immigrant visas, including work, student, and tourist visas, if the father is not a U.S. citizen or green card holder.
The EO seeks to overturn United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898), a U.S. Supreme Court case over a century old holding that children born in the United States to foreign parents are U.S. citizens under the 14th Amendment. Issuing an injunction, Judge Coughenour stated: “I have been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case whether the question presented was as clear.”
