US: Court blocks Trump's order on birthright citizenship

 

Islamabad (Point News Today / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jan, 2025 ) A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked Trump's order to end the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship regardless of the immigration status of the parents.

US District Judge John Coffinor ruled that the president's attempt to deny citizenship to children born in the United States is "completely unconstitutional".

Referring to a Justice Department lawyer who was defending the president's order, the judge said, "I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar can decisively say that this order is constitutional. It boggles my mind."

The lawsuit against the presidential order has been filed in the courts by 22 US states and several immigrant rights groups.

Violation of the US Constitution

The plaintiffs say it violates the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, which states that anyone born in the United States is a citizen of the country.

The Justice Department says the order is an "essential component" of Trump's efforts to address the country's broken immigration system and the ongoing crisis on the southern border.

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Deportation risks

If President Trump's position is accepted by the high court, the order would mean that children born after February 19 to parents who are not US citizens or legal permanent residents could be deported.

Such children would also not be allowed to obtain Social Security numbers, other government benefits or the right to work legally when they grow up.

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Government announces appeal

The court order means that President Trump's executive order will be blocked for 14 days pending further legal action. However, Trump said that the government will appeal the court's decision.

Birthright citizenship, where anyone born on American soil automatically becomes a citizen, was not originally part of the US Constitution, but the Constitution was amended to address the issue of citizenship for freed former slaves of American origin after the end of the Civil War in 1868.

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President Trump said in an interview with Fox News that he believes a trade deal can be reached between the US and China, which is a very different tone from his campaign statements.

He said in the interview that a deal with China was possible and that "we have a great power against China and that is tariffs, the Chinese don't want them, and I don't want to use them, but it is a great power against China."

"Trump had threatened to raise tariffs on China by 10% since returning to the White House. However, his latest comments are an indication of how the US president wants to use the threat of tariffs as a negotiating tactic.

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Mentions good relations with Chinese president

When asked about his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump described the relationship as "good" and "friendly" in a recent conversation.

"He himself is a courageous person ... He is like a friend of mine, we had a very good relationship," Trump said.

However, he justified his decision to impose tariffs on Beijing, saying that "China gets a lot of its money from the United States and they use that money to build their military."

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Desire to meet Putin on the Ukraine war

Meanwhile, Trump said in his address to political and business leaders that he would like to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the Russian war in Ukraine.

He said, "I really want to meet with President Putin soon to end this war. And it's not from the perspective of the economy or anything else, but it's from the perspective that millions of lives are being lost."

Trump also said that he hopes that China will also play its role in ending the Ukraine war. He said, "They (China) have a lot of power in this situation."

It should be noted that just the other day, Trump had called on President Putin to end the Ukraine war in one of his statements. Trump calls this war "ridiculous."