SEATTLE, Wash. – A federal judge blocked President Trump’s order curtailing the right to automatic birthright citizenship in the United States, Judge John Coughenour, who’s been on the bench 43 years, called the order was “blatantly unconstitutional.” In an initial hearing, Judge John Coughenour express and astonishment and disgust at the brazenness of the order. From the court record:
Judge Coughenour to attorney assigned to defend the Trump order: “In your opinion, is this executive order constitutional?”
Attorney Brett Shumate: “Yes, we think it is.”
Judge Coughenour: “I have difficulty understanding how a member of the bar can state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order. It boggles my mind. Where were the lawyers when this decision was being made?”
It was an unusually stern rebuke from the judge, suggesting extreme amateurishness in the White House. The hapless Shumate had been assigned to represent Trump. However he is aligned with Trump. He is active in the extreme right-wing Federalist Society on which Trump has leaned for policy advice.
Verbatim
Judge Coughenour: “I have been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as it is here. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.” His order is temporary, for 14 days, subject to renewal. Meanwhile, companion cases against the Trump order are proceeding in other jurisdictions.
Back story
Trump had signed the order to end birthright citizenship on Monday, his first day back in office. The ink was barely dry before five lawsuits were filed by 22 states, including Minnesota, and also by several immigrant rights groups. The suits argue that citizenship is as birthright dates to the 1857 Dredd Scott ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on slave citizenship and was embodied into the Constitution by the 14th Amendment in1868 and further cemented by an 1898 case involving a child born of a Chinese woman.