President Donald Trump is pictured before boarding Air Force One at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)2025-02-10T14:36:38Z CONCORD, N.H. (AP) A third federal judge on Monday blocked President Donald Trumps executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of people who are in the U.S. illegally. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Joseph N. Laplante in New Hampshire comes after two similar rulings by judges in Seattle and Maryland last week.A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union contends that Trumps order violates the Constitution and attempts to upend one of the most fundamental American constitutional values.Trumps Republican administration has asserted that children of noncitizens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and therefore are not entitled to citizenship. The administration is appealing the Seattle judges block on Trumps executive order. At the heart of the lawsuits in the three cases is the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War and the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, which held that Scott, an enslaved man, wasnt a citizen despite having lived in a state where slavery was outlawed. In 1898, in a case known as United States v. Wong Kim Ark, the U.S. Supreme Court found the only children who did not automatically receive U.S. citizenship upon being born on U.S. soil were children of diplomats, who have allegiance to another government; enemies present in the U.S. during hostile occupation; those born on foreign ships; and those born to members of sovereign Native American tribes.The U.S. is among about 30 countries where birthright citizenship the principle of jus soli, or right of the soil is applied. Most are in the Americas and Canada and Mexico are among them.___Associated Press writer Michael Casey in Boston contributed to this story. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court, legal affairs and criminal justice for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. Past stops include Salt Lake City, New Mexico and Indiana. twitter mailto