A federal judge in Maryland, the United States of America has issued a fourth ruling blocking President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship in the country.
The preliminary injunction, handed down Thursday by U.S. District Judge, Deborah Boardman, halts enforcement of the order and certifies a class of affected children born in the U.S. since February 19, 2025.
Judge Boardman’s decision follows a series of nationwide injunctions issued by multiple courts since President Trump signed the order on his first day back in office for a second term.
The executive directive declared that children born on U.S. soil would not automatically receive citizenship if at least one parent was undocumented or only temporarily present in the country on a visa.
The Order also instructed federal agencies to stop issuing citizenship documentation within 30 days for such children.
The move immediately sparked a wave of lawsuits across the country, with legal scholars widely condemning it as a clear violation of the 14th Amendment that ratified in 1868, guarantees citizenship to “all persons born or naturalised in the United States,” a clause long understood to apply regardless of parental immigration status.
In her ruling, Judge Boardman emphasised that the plaintiffs were “extremely likely” to succeed in their constitutional challenge urging that birthright citizenship order likely violates the 14th Amendment and that children affected by the policy would suffer “irreparable harm” if it were implemented.
President Trump’s legal team has leaned on a narrow interpretation of the 14th Amendment, citing the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S. to argue that undocumented or temporary visa holding parents and by extension, their children fall outside that jurisdiction.
However, multiple courts have rejected this interpretation, pointing to longstanding legal precedent that recognises birthright citizenship regardless of parental status.
Complicating the legal terrain, the U.S. Supreme Court in June ruled that lower courts must scale back nationwide injunctions to avoid overreach.
However, the court left the door open for class action litigation to provide broader relief which allows a federal court in New Hampshire to pause Trump’s order nationwide last month, and Judge Boardman’s class certification builds on that momentum.
The Maryland decision comes amid increasing legal and political tension over immigration and citizenship laws.
The Trump administration continues to argue that courts should restrict any injunctions to states that are party to the lawsuits but states and plaintiffs have warned that such limits would be ineffective, given the mobility of affected individuals across state lines.
As of now, the policy remains suspended, and the class of potentially affected children is protected while the litigation continues.
The matter is expected to return to appellate courts and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court again in the coming months.
This development underscores the high-stakes legal battles shaping the immigration debate in Trump’s second term and the limits of executive power in the face of constitutional guarantees.
