President Donald Trump made headlines shortly after taking office when he signed an executive order that denies citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.

However, that order met a legal hurdle this week when an appeals court blocked it from being implemented. 

Ninth Circuit panel upholds earlier ruling from Judge John C. Coughenour

According to Fox News, the two-to-one ruling came down on Wednesday from a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Authored by Democratic appointed Judges Michael Hawkins and Ronald Gould, the decision upheld an earlier ruling issued by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour.

"The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree," they wrote.

"We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the States complete relief," the majority added.

Case concerns interpretation of 14th Amendment "Citizenship Clause"

Hawkins and Gould were met with a dissent from Judge Patrick Bumatay, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019.

While not addressing the merits of the case, Bumatay maintained that the states which had challenged Trump's executive order did have standing to sue.

Federal appeals court rules against Trump's birthright citizenship executive order https://t.co/egfEesDEkG

— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 24, 2025

Fox News noted how the controversy concerns Section 1 of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which is commonly known as the "Citizenship Clause."

It reads, "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."

Dispute over who is "subject to" U.S. jurisdiction

Critics of Trump's executive order maintain that the clause has long been understood to bestow U.S. citizenship upon anyone born on American soil aside from the children of foreign diplomats.

Nevertheless, the Department of Justice (DOJ) insists that only someone with at least one parent who is either a citizen or permanent resident can be regarded as "subject to" U.S. jurisdiction.

This position echoes the words of Trump's order, which argues that "the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States."

"The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not 'subject to the jurisdiction thereof,'" it goes on to add.