A federal appeals court in Boston ruled yesterday that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump does not have the right to revoke the citizenship of children born in the United States whose parents are illegal or temporarily residing in the country, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
The three-judge panel became the fifth federal panel since June to issue or uphold a decision blocking the president's order on birthright citizenship – a clause enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The judges upheld the lower court’s preliminary injunctions that blocked the repeal of the birthright citizenship law signed on the day Trump took office in January. The president’s order would have automatically stripped babies born in the U.S. of their citizenship rights to parents who are in the country illegally or temporarily.
In September, the White House asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Trump’s order revoking birthright citizenship. The appeal sets off a Supreme Court process that could lead to a final decision by the justices by early summer on whether the citizenship restrictions are constitutional.
"The court misinterprets the 14th Amendment. We look forward to being acquitted by the Supreme Court," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.