US Judge Questions Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order; Declines to Block It
Maryland judge says the executive order appears unprecedented but gives Trump administration time to defend its legality.
Staff WriterAug 31, 2026, 9:54 AMA US federal judge on Friday declined to immediately block President Donald Trump’s latest executive order restricting eligibility for birthright citizenship, while sharply questioning its legal viability after the US Supreme Court rejected his previous attempt to limit the constitutional right.
US District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland, rejected a request for a temporary restraining order filed by immigrant rights advocates who had previously secured a ruling from her blocking the Trump administration from enforcing its initial 2025 executive order restricting birthright citizenship.
Boardman, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, said the plaintiffs’ lawsuit did not address Trump’s 2026 order and, therefore, she could not block its implementation at this stage.
However, she allowed the groups to amend their complaint and set an expedited briefing schedule, giving the plaintiffs an opportunity to challenge the new order.
The judge said the latest directive “tries to strike out exceptions to birthright citizenship with the stroke of a pen”.
“As far as I can tell, this is unprecedented,” Boardman said.
The US Supreme Court on June 30 rejected Trump’s initial attempt to end birthright citizenship for children whose parents were neither US citizens nor lawful permanent residents, commonly known as green card holders. The court found that the administration’s approach violated the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Following that decision, Trump signed a new executive order on August 6 that specifically targeted so-called “birth tourism”, in which women travel to the US to give birth so their children can obtain automatic citizenship.
The new order would also deny citizenship to children whose parents work for foreign governments in the US, those whose parents engage in fraud to obtain citizenship, or children whose parents are classified as “alien enemies”.
After Trump signed the order, lawyers pursuing a class-action lawsuit on behalf of babies who could be denied citizenship under the 2025 order asked Boardman to block enforcement of the new directive and ensure that their clients’ citizenship rights continued to be recognised.
US Department of Justice lawyers opposed the request, arguing that federal agencies had yet to issue public guidance setting out how the president’s directive would be implemented. Such guidance is expected by September 5.
At Friday’s hearing, however, Boardman appeared sceptical about waiting until then to consider the matter. She questioned where the Supreme Court’s ruling provided for any exception to birthright citizenship in cases involving birth tourism.
The judge’s decision leaves the new order in place for now, but the legal challenge is expected to proceed as the administration prepares to issue implementation guidance.
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