The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that President Trump cannot end birthright citizenship by executive order, likely setting up a Supreme Court battle.
The Justice Department filed an emergency request to lift a Seattle judge’s freeze on the policy, but the appeals court rejected it Wednesday.
As reported by CNN:
The 9th Circuit panel – made up of a Trump appointee, a Jimmy Carter appointee and a George W. Bush appointee – said that a closer review of the case will move forward in its court, with arguments slated for June.
The case before the San Francisco-based appeals court is one of several major legal challenges to the policy and the first to get the weigh-in by an appellate panel.
In filings, the Justice Department said that the birthright citizenship executive order was “an integral part of President Trump’s broader effort to repair the United States’ immigration system and to address the ongoing crisis at the southern border.”
The court denied the appeal, saying it was unlikely to succeed on its merits.
Democratic attorneys general from four states sued to block the order.
“This is not a case about ‘immigration,'” the lawsuit states. “It is about citizenship rights that the Fourteenth Amendment and federal statute intentionally and explicitly place beyond the President’s authority to condition or deny.”
Under Trump’s day-one order, a baby born in the United States would not have automatic citizenship unless one of the parents is a citizen or green card holder.
“On a prospective basis, the federal government will not recognize automatic birthright citizenship for children of illegal aliens born in the United States,” a Trump official explained on a call with reporters about the orders.
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