California appeals court declares Trump's attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship unconstitutional

A federal appeals court in San Francisco, California, ruled Wednesday against Donald Trump's presidential order seeking to eliminate automatic birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children of undocumented or temporary immigrants.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the measure is unconstitutional and upheld the block previously handed down by a lower court.

The decision, adopted by a majority (2-1), represents the first appellate-level pronouncement on this initiative by President Trump, bringing the case closer to an eventual intervention by the Supreme Court.

The appeals court ruling keeps in place an injunction preventing the administration from enforcing the measure that would deny citizenship to children born in the United States if their parents remain in illegal immigration status.

"The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree," wrote Justice Michael Hawkins and Ronald Gould, both appointees of Democratic President Bill Clinton. "We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the States complete relief."

The dissenting judge, Patrick Bumatay—appointed by Trump—declined to rule on the constitutional merits of the case and instead argued that the plaintiff states (Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon) have no standing to bring the suit. It therefore voted against blocking.

The Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution states that every person born or naturalized in the U.S. and subject to its jurisdiction is a citizen. The Trump Administration, however, argued that such a clause does not automatically apply to children of unlawful aliens, generating a legal battle that is being fought with multiple lawsuits across the country.