January 24, 2025 – A Seattle judge has temporarily blocked the order signed by newly-appointed US President Donald Trump to do away with birthright citizenship in the US. A temporary restraining order of 14 days was granted by US District Judge John Coughenour thereby putting a halt on the implementation of the policy while a primary injunction was being deliberated upon.

The Court was hearing a suit filed in federal court by four Democratic-led States — Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon — who challenged the order saying that it violated the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause , which guarantees citizenship to anyone born on US soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.

During the hearing, Judge Coughenour termed the executive order as “blatantly unconstitutional.”

“I am having trouble understanding how a member of the Bar could state unequivocally that this order is constitutional,” Coughenour told Brett Shumate, the Justice Department attorney who was defending the administration’s position. “It just boggles my mind.”

Responding to the Justice Department’s defence of the directive, the judge expressed disbelief that any legal professional could consider the order constitutionally sound.

Judge Coughenour came down heavily on the Justice Department’s defence of the directive saying that he could not believe that any legal professional could consider it constitutionally sound.

The ruling is looked at as the first major legal setback for the new President.