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What to know about the ruling blocking Trump’s order on birthright citizenship

FILE - Migrants walk along the Huixtla highway in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, Oct. 22, 2024, hoping to reach the country's northern border and ultimately the United States. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente, File)
FILE - Migrants walk along the Huixtla highway in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, Oct. 22, 2024, hoping to reach the country's northern border and ultimately the United States. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente, File) FILE - Migrants walk along the Huixtla highway in the state of Chiapas, Mexico, Oct. 22, 2024, hoping to reach the country's northern border and ultimately the United States. (AP Photo/Edgar H. Clemente, File)

By GENE JOHNSON and MIKE CATALINI / Associated Press 5 min read

SEATTLE (AP) — President Donald Trump’s executive order denying U.S. citizenship to the children of parents living in the country illegally has faced the first of what will be many legal tests. It didn’t fare well.

A Justice Department lawyer had barely started making his arguments in a Seattle courtroom Thursday when U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour began blistering him with questions, calling the executive order “blatantly unconstitutional.” Coughenour went on to temporarily block it pending further arguments.

Some things to know about the decision and the lawsuits challenging Trump’s order:

What is birthright citizenship?

Birthright citizenship is the principle that someone born in a country is a citizen of that country. In the United States, it’s enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” It was ratified in 1868 to ensure the citizenship of former slaves after the Civil War.