A federal judge has temporarily blocked US President Donald Trump’s executive order ending the country’s constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship.

 

John C. Coughenour, US district judge, gave the ruling on Thursday.

 

The order to end birthright citizenship had originally been slated to take effect on February 19 but 18 states’ attorneys general filed lawsuits on Tuesday challenging it.

 

The Democratic officials also filed a request asking the court to put the case on a fast track and rule on whether to block enforcement before it takes effect.

 

During a brief hearing in Seattle, Brett Shumate, justice department lawyer, began to argue that Trump’s order was valid, but his speech was cut off abruptly.

 

“Is this order constitutional?” Coughenou interrupted. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.

 

“We look back in history and say ‘where were the judges, where were the lawyers?’”

 

“Frankly I have difficulty finding that a member of the bar can state confidently that this is a constitutional order.”

 

Coughenou said the order “boggles the mind”, adding that he could not remember seeing another case where the action challenged was so clearly unconstitutional in his over four decades of practice.

 

Trump signed the order seeking to overturn the centuries-old law on Monday, the day he was inaugurated.

 

The swift move was the top of his campaign priorities of cracking down on immigration.

 

On Wednesday, the president ordered the deployment of t 1,500 US troops to “guard” the borders from illegal immigrants.

 

Local reports said up to 10,000 troops could actually be deployed.