Overview

• A First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled the government cannot deny citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.
• The judges found challengers likely to prevail under the 14th Amendment’s Citizenship Clause and left in place lower-court injunctions that halted the executive order.
• It is the fifth federal court since June to issue or sustain blocks on the policy, following rulings that include a Ninth Circuit decision and nationwide relief achieved through class-action and state-led suits.
• The administration petitioned the Supreme Court in September to uphold the order, a process that could lead to a ruling next summer on the policy’s constitutionality.
• Justice Department lawyers contend the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction” limits automatic citizenship, while state plaintiffs and groups such as the ACLU argue the order unlawfully strips citizenship, and California’s attorney general welcomed the ruling.