On Thursday, a federal judge in the United States temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s bid to restrict birthright citizenship.

The decision puts a 14-day moratorium on the implementation of one of Trump’s most contentious executive orders, which he signed hours after being sworn in for his second term.

It follows a rush of lawsuits filed by 22 states, two cities, and a number of civil rights organizations.

“This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” senior US District Judge John Coughenour is alleged to have said during the hearing in Washington state.

I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is,” said Coughenour, who was appointed to the bench by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan.

Birthright citizenship is fundamental to America’s national identity, with the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution decreeing that anyone born on US soil is a citizen.

It says, in part: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Trump’s order was premised on the idea that anyone in the US illegally, or on a visa, was not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the country, and therefore excluded from this category.

AFP