Judge lets Trump birthright citizenship order take effect for now
What's next: The plaintiffs can amend their lawsuit, and federal agencies are expected to issue implementation guidance by Sept. 5.
A federal judge in Maryland declined for now to block President Donald Trump’s latest executive order narrowing birthright citizenship, but signaled the policy faces a fast new court fight. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman said immigrant rights groups had asked her to halt the Aug. 6 order even though their lawsuit challenged Trump’s earlier 2025 directive, not the new one. She allowed the plaintiffs to supplement their complaint and set an expedited briefing schedule. Boardman also sharply questioned the order’s legal footing after the Supreme Court on June 30 rejected Trump’s prior bid to deny citizenship to some U.S.-born children under the 14th Amendment. The new order targets what Trump calls birth tourism and also covers some children of foreign-government workers, people accused of citizenship fraud and those classified as alien enemies.