Trump's order on birthright citizenship blocked, Fresno area attorney reacts
Jan 23, 2025
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A federal district court judge has temporarily blocked President Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship for babies born to parents who are in the United States illegally.
U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour from Seattle issued a temporary restraining order on the case on Thursday, blocking the policy from taking effect for the next two weeks.
The judge called the order "blatantly unconstitutional.”
If the order does go into effect, it could have huge impacts on people in California.
Estimates from the Pew Research Center show there are over 1 million undocumented immigrants in the state, and the Migration Policy Institute estimates around 77,000 in Fresno County.
While there is still uncertainty around what will happen when the case is back in court, Fresno area Immigration Attorney Armida Mendoza said she and her colleagues expected this ruling.
"We all knew that it was unconstitutional, and we knew at the beginning that it would face an uphill legal battle, and so the judge's order comes to no surprise to us," she said.
Mendoza said the order would violate the 14th Amendment, which state "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."
She added that only a vote from Congress can change the Constitution, and the President does not have that power.
"That case has over 100 years of precedent. And so we knew that it was going to it was going to be sooner than later," Mendoza said.
However, she said this action is only temporary, and not a final ruling on the order itself. The temporary restraining order simply prevents the order from going into place, while attorneys on both sides have time to prepare their arguments.
Still even though it is temporary, Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez said to him and his constituents, it is good news.
"I think a lot of this rhetoric and a lot of the executive orders that have come out have done nothing to solve the immigration problem but cause more fear, angst and more than anything, confusion," he said.
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He said he has seen the impact from Trump's actions firsthand in Fresno County. While this order would not strip citizenship from children already born to parents in the country illegally, he said he is still learning about parents who are trying to take action to protect their citizen children.
"Right now immigrant parents that are, you know, rushing to get passports for their children. On the county side, you know, you talk to our county clerk, he has now appointments two to three weeks out. Our local post offices are also seeing a big surge in folks that are trying to get some kind of documentation for their children," Chavez said.