A US federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s latest attempt to restrict birthright citizenship, ruling that the administration cannot enforce an executive order withholding citizenship documents from certain children born in the United States.
District Judge Deborah L Boardman issued a preliminary injunction in Maryland on Wednesday, protecting children covered by an existing class-action case brought by immigrant families and advocacy groups.
The ruling prevents the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration from interfering with, denying or failing to recognise the citizenship of children within the certified class.
Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order
Boardman said the Supreme Court had already established that the children covered by the case were “citizens at birth”. She described Trump’s August order as almost certainly unconstitutional when applied to those children.
The order, signed by Mr Trump on 6 August, was presented as a narrower measure aimed at so-called birth tourism, in which women travel to the US to give birth so their children can obtain automatic citizenship.
It also sought to prevent citizenship being recognised for children whose parents were not US citizens or lawful permanent residents where one parent was classified as an “alien enemy”, a foreign government employee or had taken part in a commercial transaction intended to obtain birthright citizenship.
The administration argued that the legal challenge was premature because the agencies had not yet issued detailed guidance on how the order would be implemented. Boardman rejected that position.
“No matter what the guidance says, the 2026 Executive Order commands agencies to deny citizenship documents to several broad categories of children,” she wrote.
The injunction will remain in force while the class-action case proceeds. It does not prevent federal agencies from continuing to prepare guidance on the administration’s policy, but they cannot apply the order to children protected by the ruling.
The decision follows a 6-3 Supreme Court ruling on 30 June that rejected Mr Trump’s earlier effort to deny citizenship to children born in the US to parents who were neither American citizens nor lawful permanent residents.
That earlier order, signed shortly after Mr Trump returned to the White House in 2025, targeted babies whose parents were in the country unlawfully or on temporary visas. The Supreme Court found the attempt incompatible with the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment.
Attorneys representing the families returned to court after Mr Trump signed the revised order, asking Boardman to ensure that their clients’ citizenship continued to be recognised.
The State Department had also been preparing proposed passport guidance requiring parents applying for documents for their children to provide evidence of their own citizenship or immigration status.
Shana Khader, legal director of the immigrant rights group We Are CASA, welcomed the ruling. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the administration had expected further litigation and would return to the Supreme Court if necessary.
