Seattle, January 24 (BBC): Things did not go well for President Donald  Trump’s lawyers during a brief hearing in Seattle, where four states asked a judge to immediately but temporarily block Trump’s attempt to deny the right to birth right citizenship to children born to undocumented migrants and people in the US.

Just as Justice Department lawyer Brett Shumate began his arguments on the validity of the order, Judge John Coughenour cut in, asking him point blank: “Is this order constitutional?”

The judge again interrupted as Shumate began to respond, saying: “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.”

“We look back in history and say where were the judges, where were the lawyers? the judge continued. “Frankly I have difficulty finding that a member of the bar can state confidently that this is a constitutional order.”

Criticism of birth right citizenship

For more than 125 years, nearly anyone born on US soil has been given citizenship, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. But many have criticised the practice, arguing that it is a “great magnet for illegal immigration”.

Lawyers for President Donald Trump have argued that the 14th Amendment should be interpreted differently. Specifically, they say that there is language in the amendment that means it should not be applied to children of those who are unlawfully in the US, or on temporary visas. That section reads: “and subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

Some states and civil right groups, however, disagree with that interpretation and say denying birth right citizenship is unconstitutional.

Nicholas Brown, the attorney general for Washington state, told BBC News that of all the presidential orders issued by Trump that the state dislikes, the order restricting birth right citizenship was the first one it decided to fight, “because this case is getting at what it means to be an American.”

“It’s getting at how do you define citizenry in the United States. It has a tremendous impact on the hundreds of thousands of babies that are going to be born this year.” He also said that he has no concerns about potential retaliation from the federal government.

In Seattle, lawyers for the four states spoke to the press about the temporary block of Trump’s executive order on birth right citizenship.

“This was fairly obvious. This was simple,” said Nicholas Brown the attorney general of Washington, speaking about the judge’s decision. He said the nationwide block is just the first step, but predicts that it won’t be overturned by another court.

“We are waiting to hear what the Trump administration’s next legal move will be,” Brown said.

Birth right citizenship, where anyone born on US soil is automatically granted citizenship, was not originally part of the US constitution, but added decades after the country was founded.

The 14th Amendment was adopted in 1868, after the Civil War ended. The 13th Amendment had abolished slavery, while the 14th settled the question of citizenship of freed, American-born former slaves.

The amendment reads: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”

The last time there was a dispute about what the amendment means was more than a century ago. In 1898, the US Supreme Court affirmed that birth right citizenship applies to the children of immigrants in the case of Wong Kim Ark v United States.

Courts have not re-examined the issue since and for the last 127 years, the US has granted citizenship to nearly anyone born on US soil, regardless of their parents’ status (the few exceptions include children of foreign diplomats).

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cn0y51z7wedt?page=2

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