In a significant legal setback for the Trump administration, US district judge Deborah Boardman issued a nationwide preliminary injunction on February 5, 2025, blocking President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship.
The executive order, titled ‘Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,’ signed by President Trump on Day 1, sought to make children born in US on or after February 19, 2025, ineligible for citizenship by birth, if their parents were either unlawfully present or held non-immigrant visas like H-1B or L visas. In other words, at least one parent was required to be a US citizen or green card holder. As TOI has pointed out this would adversely impact lakhs of Indians in the US who wait endlessly for decades to obtain an employment linked green card.
The lawsuit was filed in the US district court of Maryland by five undocumented pregnant women (including a doctor) and two nonprofit organizations that support immigrants. Judge Boardman ruled that the executive order conflicts with the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and contradicts the precedent set by the US Supreme Court affirming birthright citizenship. “Citizenship is a most precious right,” she stated in her ruling, and emphasized the irreparable harm that the executive order would inflict on affected families.
This nationwide preliminary injunction follows an earlier emergency temporary restraining order by Judge John Coughenour of a district court in Washington. The judge had held President Trump’s executive order to be flatly contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment’s text and history, century-old Supreme Court precedent, longstanding Executive Branch interpretation, and the Immigration and Nationality Act.
In both cases the judges point out that the plaintiffs are exceedingly likely to succeed on the merits of their claims. While Judge Coughenour’s order temporarily blocked the executive action, Judge Boardman’s preliminary injunction will remain in place until the lawsuit is resolved or overturned by a higher court.
According to immigration attorneys as the legal challenges to this executive order continue across district courts – including challenges brought by 22 state attorney generals, it is likely that the matter will finally be decided by the US Supreme Court.
However, should the EO sail through the question that looms large for the Indian diaspora is what should be the next steps. Mitch Wexler, senior counsel at Fragomen, a global immigration law firm explains, “For children born to parents with H-1B, L-1, F-1 or any other lawful, temporary status, these families would presumably be required to obtain evidence of their child’s dependent non-immigrant status (eg, H-4, L-2, F-2 etc.) through an immigration application.”