A federal judge temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants. On Thursday, January 23, US District Judge John C. Coughenour ruled in a case brought by four states – Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon – that argued the 14th Amendment and existing US Supreme Court case law ensure birthright citizenship.

The EO was signed on Inauguration Day and was slated to take effect on February 19. While Trump and others (including the author of the 14th Amendment) interpret it as not applying to the children of illegal immigrants, the lawsuit argues that it does – and that American courts have interpreted it this way for nearly century.