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A federal appeals court is set to hear arguments on Friday in a case challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order aiming to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. This case is one of several lower court cases that have emerged following the Supreme Court’s significant ruling in June.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit’s three-judge panel agreed to hear arguments in two combined cases related to this issue, O. Doe. v. Trump, and the State of New Jersey v. Trump. This joins several other appeals courts in examining the legality of Trump’s executive order.
The hearing comes after the Supreme Court’s ruling partially favored the Trump administration in a case concerning the birthright citizenship order. Justices limited when lower courts can issue nationwide injunctions blocking the enforcement of the president’s orders.
Trump signed the birthright citizenship executive order on his first day in office. The order aims to interpret the 14th Amendment, 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.”
Instead, the administration’s proposed language, which was subsequently blocked, would have specified that individuals born to illegal immigrant parents or those on temporary non-immigrant visas are not citizens by birthright.
The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits, but gave the Trump administration 30 days to outline how it would implement the order, sending the issue back to the lower courts.
A federal judge in New Hampshire issued a nationwide injunction last month blocking Trump’s order and certifying a class of infants born in the U.S. who would be denied citizenship under the order.
Arguments before the First Circuit come after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals also blocked Trump’s birthright citizenship order nationwide. The Ninth Circuit judges ruled it unconstitutional, siding with Democratic-led states.
It’s uncertain how the First Circuit judges will rule, but their oral arguments follow the Trump administration’s release of new specifics on how it plans to enforce the order. Various U.S. agencies have outlined new requirements for parents to prove their child is a U.S. citizen at birth.
The policy, currently halted by lower courts, has faced widespread disapproval and legal challenges from over 22 U.S. states and immigrants’ rights groups.
As of now, no court has supported the Trump administration’s executive order on birthright citizenship, with multiple district courts blocking its implementation.
