Judge Blocks Trump's August Birthright Citizenship Order for a Nationwide Class, Calling It 'Almost Certainly Unconstitutional'

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland on Sept. 2, 2026 preliminarily enjoined enforcement of Executive Order 14418, the Aug. 6 order directing federal agencies not to recognize the citizenship of U.S.-born children whose parent is an "alien enemy," a foreign government employee, or engaged in fraud or a commercial transaction to obtain citizenship. In a 35-page ruling, Boardman wrote that the order "is almost certainly unconstitutional," citing the Supreme Court's June 2026 ruling that Trump's earlier day-one birthright citizenship order violated the Fourteenth Amendment's Citizenship Clause. The injunction covers a nationwide class in the case brought by CASA Inc. and runs until the case is resolved.

It is the second time a federal court has stopped this administration from narrowing birthright citizenship by executive order. Boardman wrote that the President has tried "through Executive Order, to upend our country's longstanding tradition of birthright citizenship" - an effort to rewrite constitutional carve-outs without Congress or an amendment.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Fox News that evening that the ruling was "not something that is a surprise to us" and that the administration would return to the Supreme Court if necessary. The White House did not immediately comment.