A Maryland federal judge blocked Trump’s new birthright citizenship order.
Why it matters: The ruling keeps federal agencies from moving ahead with a policy that would reshape how citizenship documents are issued for some children born in the U.S. It also preserves a major test of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement powers in federal court.
- U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction Sept. 3 in Greenbelt, Maryland.
- The order blocked enforcement of Trump’s latest executive order on birthright citizenship.
- Boardman said the Supreme Court had already rejected Trump’s earlier attempt to end birthright citizenship in a June 30 ruling.
- The administration had said implementing guidance for the new order was expected by Sept. 5.
U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman on Sept. 3 blocked President Donald Trump’s latest attempt to narrow birthright citizenship, issuing a preliminary injunction in Greenbelt, Maryland, according to AP.
The order was the administration’s second try after the Supreme Court’s June 30 ruling rejected Trump’s earlier effort, AP reported. Boardman said the high court had already settled the central legal question.
"The Supreme Court has spoken: Children in the certified class are 'citizens at birth,'" Boardman wrote, AP reported. She also wrote, "No matter what the guidance says, the 2026 Executive Order commands agencies to deny citizenship documents to several broad categories of children."
In her ruling, Boardman said the plaintiffs were likely to win their claim that the executive order is unconstitutional, AP reported. For fast readers: that means the judge found the challengers had a strong enough case to justify blocking the policy while the lawsuit continues.
The Washington Post reported the order was aimed in part at so-called birth tourism and would have denied citizenship documents to several broad categories of children, including some born to parents in the United States unlawfully or temporarily. Reuters reported Boardman had declined on Aug. 28 to immediately block the new order, saying the plaintiffs had not yet challenged that specific directive.
The Justice Department argued the case was premature because implementing guidance had not yet been issued. The administration said that guidance was expected by Sept. 5, AP and Reuters reported.
AP also reported in March that federal courts had uniformly blocked Trump’s earlier birthright-citizenship order before the Supreme Court acted later in the year.
By the numbers
- Sept. 3 - date Boardman issued the preliminary injunction
- June 30 - date of the Supreme Court ruling rejecting Trump’s earlier effort
- Sept. 5 - date the administration said implementing guidance was expected