A third federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship order from taking effect.
The federal government is looking to narrow the broad recognition of birthright citizenship to exclude children born to illegal immigrants and those only visiting the United States temporarily.
U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante’s ruling in New Hampshire follows two similar rulings by judges in Seattle and Maryland last week.
“I’m going to grant the injunction,” Laplante said at a Feb. 10 hearing, siding with the plaintiff New Hampshire Indonesian Community Support, an immigrants’ rights advocacy group.
The judge said he went into the hearing expecting to grant the motion but wanted to allow both sides to defend their positions. While he said he’d heard nothing surprising, he noted that the government’s case was not entirely unfounded in his opinion….