A federal judge temporarily blocks President Donald Trump's immigration executive order, and a Tampa union races to increase its membership to stay legal.

Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship

A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's executive order ending the constitutional guarantee of birthright citizenship regardless of the parents' immigration status.

U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ruled in the case brought by the states of Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon, which argue the 14th Amendment and Supreme Court case law have cemented birthright citizenship.

The case is one of five lawsuits being brought by 22 states and a number of immigrant rights groups across the country. The suits include personal testimonies from attorneys general who are U.S. citizens by birthright, and names pregnant women who are afraid their children won't become U.S. citizens.

Signed by Trump on Inauguration Day, the order is slated to take effect on Feb. 19. It could impact hundreds of thousands of people born in the country, according to one of the lawsuits. In 2022, there were about 255,000 births of citizen children to mothers living in the country illegally and about 153,000 births to two such parents, according to the four-state suit filed in Seattle.

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.

The lawsuits argue that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship for people born and/or naturalized in the U.S., and states have been interpreting the amendment that way for a century.

Ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, the amendment says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Trump's order claims that the children of noncitizens are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and orders federal agencies to not recognize citizenship for children who don't have at least one parent who is a citizen.

A key case involving birthright citizenship unfolded in 1898. The Supreme Court held that Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants, was a U.S. citizen because he was born in the country. After a trip abroad, he was denied reentry by the federal government on the grounds that he wasn't a citizen under the Chinese Exclusion Act.

But some advocates of immigration restrictions have claimed that case applied to children born to parents who were both legal immigrants, and argue that it's less clear whether it applies to children born to parents living in the country illegally.

Trump's executive order prompted attorneys general to share their personal connections to birthright citizenship. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, for instance, a U.S. citizen by birthright and the nation's first Chinese American elected attorney general, said the lawsuit was personal for him.

"There is no legitimate legal debate on this question," he said. "But the fact that Trump is dead wrong will not prevent him from inflicting serious harm right now on American families like my own."

Tampa union races to recruit dues-paying members to stay alive

A Tampa union is fighting to be able to continue to exist after a new state law changed how unions can operate in Florida.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1464 represents 2,000 city of Tampa workers. To comply with state law, 60% of the workers must be dues-paying members. As of Jan. 21, union officials said they were 277 members short of the requirement.

“If we don’t meet that criteria, it means we get decertified, which means the union no longer exists,” said ATU Local 1464 President Stephen Simon. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 256 into law in 2023, in a move that some have argued equates to union busting. The governor said that unions should be able to represent all of their members at the time the bill was under consideration.

Since November, there has been a union push to get city employees signed up, and the city of Tampa has been helping by providing space for the union leaders to register workers. 

Employee E’mani Johnson dropped by the city of Tampa’s Ragan Park to fill out the union forms.

“Just to make sure I’m represented while I’m at work,” Johnson said.

Still, some have called to question whether the union is even needed. Simon said three years ago, union talks helped city workers walk away with a historic raise. 

Bargaining for a new city of Tampa contract is slated for March if the union meets the 60% threshold. And time is ticking: The union needs 1,200 dues-paying members by the end of January.