Judge Blocks Trump's New Bid to Narrow Birthright Citizenship

A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Trump's latest executive order narrowing birthright citizenship, ruling that it likely violates the 14th Amendment.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman found Wednesday that a group of plaintiffs who sued are likely to succeed in showing the order is unconstitutional. She pointed to the Supreme Court's ruling in June that struck down Trump's original attempt to end birthright citizenship, calling it "the law of the land."

"The 2026 Executive Order is almost certainly unconstitutional as applied to the certified class for the simple reason that the Supreme Court in Barbara already decided that the children in the class are citizens at birth," Boardman wrote. "This Court must, once again, preliminarily enjoin enforcement of the President's most recent attempt to strip the right to citizenship from them."

The order Trump signed last month sought to deny automatic citizenship to children of "alien enemies," foreign government employees and people the administration alleges engaged in "birth tourism," defined as a commercial transaction to travel to the U.S. before giving birth. The administration has applied the "alien enemies" designation to drug cartels.

Justice Department lawyers argued the Supreme Court's summer ruling did not bar the administration from narrowing birthright citizenship further, noting some exceptions — such as for children of diplomats — have long been recognized. They said the court found children of temporary or undocumented immigrants "are not disqualified" from citizenship but never said every such child is automatically a citizen with no exceptions.//

The plaintiffs, including immigrants and the advocacy group CASA, countered that historically accepted exceptions are narrow and that Trump's order unconstitutionally tries to expand them. "The President has no power to unilaterally rewrite the Constitution," their lawyers wrote.

Plaintiffs' attorneys also warned of a "credible" risk that the administration could strip citizenship from children based on false allegations against parents, noting the broad definition used for "alien enemies" and cases where deported people denied gang membership. Some plaintiffs said they fear that simply buying a plane ticket to the U.S. could be construed as the kind of "commercial transaction" targeted by the order.

CBS News has reached out to the White House for comment.