Federal appeals court rules against Trump's birthright citizenship executive order

President Donald Trump's executive order EO putting an end to birthright citizenship faced another legal setback after a federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled it to be unconstitutional The th U S Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed a lower court's decision blocking the nationwide enforcement of the EO which would deny citizenship to babies born to people illegally or temporarily in the U S A three-judge panel ruled against Trump's plan in a - vote keeping a decision first made by U S District Judge John C Coughenour in Seattle in place The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order s proposed interpretation denying citizenship to multiple persons born in the United States is unconstitutional We fully agree the majority wrote SCOTUS RULES ON TRUMP'S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS Though the Supreme Court has since restricted lower courts from issuing nationwide injunctions the majority in the th Circuit ruled against the EO after discovering the affair fell under an exception left open by SCOTUS justices States filed the development against the Trump administration after arguing that a nationwide order is needed to block the EO in order to prevent problems that would arise from birthright citizenship being outlawed in various states We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the States complete relief wrote Judges Michael Hawkins and Ronald Gould both of whom were appointed by former President Bill Clinton Judge Patrick Bumatay a Trump appointee dissented after deciding that states don't have the legal right or standing to sue the Trump administration over this He did not weigh in on the constitutionality of ending birthright citizenship HOW THE SUPREME COURT'S INJUNCTION RULING ADVANCES TRUMP'S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHTThe Citizenship Clause of the th Amendment states that people born or naturalized in the U S or subject to United States jurisdiction are American citizens but Department of Justice attorneys argue that does not mean children are automatically American citizens based solely on birth location Trump's EO would deny American citizenship to a child born to a mother without legal or permanent status in the U S and whose father does not hold legal or permanent status The Trump administration is facing at least nine lawsuits across the country challenging the EO The Associated Press contributed to this statement