Judge Declines to Block Trump's Newest Birthright Citizenship Order but Calls It 'Unprecedented'

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman in Greenbelt, Maryland declined on Aug. 28 to issue a temporary restraining order against Trump's Aug. 6 executive order narrowing birthright citizenship, saying she could not block it because the plaintiffs' existing complaint did not mention the 2026 order. She allowed them to supplement the complaint on a swift briefing schedule and said of the order, which "tries to strike out exceptions to birthright citizenship with the stroke of a pen," that "as far as I can tell, this is unprecedented."

The procedural denial leaves in place, for now, a directive reaching children of birth-tourism visitors, of foreign-government employees, of people accused of citizenship fraud, and of those classified as "alien enemies" — categories the Supreme Court did not carve out when it rejected the 2025 order on June 30.

Justice Department lawyers said agencies must publish implementing guidance by Sept. 5, and Boardman questioned waiting that long. Briefing on the renewed challenge is set to move quickly.