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A federal judge on Friday failed to halt US President Donald Trump's latest executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship. US District Judge Deborah Boardman in Maryland rejected a temporary restraining order sought by immigrant rights groups who previously blocked a 2025 Trump order attempting to limit birthright citizenship.

Boardman, appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, stated she couldn't block the 2026 order as the plaintiffs' lawsuit didn't mention it. However, she offered to expand the complaint and set up urgent meetings for the plaintiffs to challenge the order again. Boardman called the situation "unprecedented" and noted the US Supreme Court had previously rejected Trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship via the 14th Amendment.

The latest Trump order targets birth tourism, where women travel to the US to give birth for their children to gain automatic citizenship. It also seeks to deny citizenship to children of foreign government workers, those who commit fraud, or those classified as alien enemies. Lawyers for babies potentially affected by the 2025 order asked Boardman to block its enforcement and protect their clients' citizenship status.

US DOJ attorneys argued they didn't have the public guidance needed to implement the directive by the September 5 deadline. Boardman expressed doubt about waiting for that guidance before considering the matter, questioning the Supreme Court ruling for any reference to an exception for birthright citizenship in the birth tourism case.