A federal appeals court Wednesday blocked the implementation of President Trump’s birthright citizenship ban nationwide.
USA Today reports the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the ban unconstitutional by a 2-1 vote. Two Clinton appointees ruled in the majority with the Trump appointee dissenting.
“The court agrees that the president cannot redefine what it means to be American with the stroke of a pen,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said to USA TODAY. “He cannot strip away the rights, liberties, and protections of children born in our country.”
The district court called Trump’s executive order “invalid because it contradicts the plain language of the Fourteenth Amendment’s grant of citizenship to ‘all persons born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof,'” reported CBS News.
However the White House said the judges misinterpreted that clause.
“We look forward to being vindicated on appeal,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.
The 9th District Court ruling comes a month after the Supreme Court ruled that previous district court judges overstepped their authority to block the executive order nationwide but left open the possibility of overturning the ban via a class action lawsuit.
A New Hampshire judge certified the class shortly after.
Birthright citizenship has been granted to anyone born in the United States since the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Wong Kim Ark in 1898.
Registration is closed for Common Ground: Building Together conference and gala award banquet in San Francisco on January 24. A shoutout to our planning committee: Jane Chin, Frank Mah, Jeannie Young, Akemi Tamanaha, Nathan Soohoo, Mark Young, Dave Liu, and Yiming Fu.
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