Appeals court maintains injunction against Trump birthright order
Source: Reuters
February 28, 2025 1:10 PM EST Updated 2 hours ago
Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's effort to curtail automatic birthright citizenship nationwide as part of his hardline immigration crackdown suffered another legal setback on Friday when a second federal appeals court declined to lift one of the court orders blocking the Republican's executive order.
The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a 2-1 vote rejected the Trump administration's request for an order putting on hold a nationwide injunction issued by a federal judge in Maryland who concluded the order was unconstitutional.
"For well over a century, the federal government has recognized the birthright citizenship of children born in this country to undocumented or non-permanent immigrants," the appeals court's majority said. It said it was "hard to overstate the confusion and upheaval" that would result from allowing Trump's order to take effect, as it challenged long-standing legal interpretations and practice in ways that could cause "chaos."
The panel's majority included U.S. Circuit Judges Roger Gregory and Pamela Harris, both appointees of Democratic presidents. U.S. Circuit Judge Paul Niemeyer, an appointee of Republican former President George H.W. Bush, dissented, saying a nationwide injunction was "inappropriate." It was the second time an appellate court had taken up Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship, whose fate may ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/appeals-court-wont-disturb-injunction-against-trump-birthright-order-2025-02-28/