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Federal judge blocks Trump effort to use Sharpie to end birthright citizenship

Chris Graham
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A federal judge appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan issued an order blocking Donald Trump’s one-man effort to rewrite the U.S. Constitution to end birthright citizenship.

“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” said Judge John C. Coughenour, the chief judge in the Western District of Washington, in an order handed down on Thursday.

“There are other times in world history where we look back and people of goodwill can say, where were the judges, where were the lawyers?” Coughenour said from the bench, before adding: “Frankly, I have difficulty understanding how a member of the Bar could state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order. It just boggles my mind.”

This is the first ruling in a series of cases filed nationwide attempting to block the Trump directive, which he spelled out in an executive order made official on Monday.


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The suit in the state of Washington was joined by Oregon, Illinois and Arizona. Eighteen other states filed a similar lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts, and another suit was filed in federal court in New Hampshire by a coalition of immigrant-rights groups.

The basis of the suits is familiar to anybody who remembers anything from your 12th-grade government class: the 14th Amendment makes clear that “(a)ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.”

Trump, who thinks birthright citizenship is “ridiculous,” thinks he can change the Constitution with a Sharpie.

The only way to reverse a constitutional amendment – and again, we learned this in high school – is with another constitutional amendment, which requires approval by two-thirds of each house of Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states.

Short of that, Trump can kick rocks.

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham, the king of "fringe media," a zero-time Virginia Sportswriter of the Year, and a member of zero Halls of Fame, is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].